Concord Comes Up Short Against Saint Michael's

ERIE, Pa. – The Concord University men's basketball team fell 92-80 to Saint Michael's College Friday night at the Hammermill Center on the campus of Gannon as part of the 37^th Annual Gary Miller Classic.

The Mountain Lions (1-4) were unable to wipe away a double-digit second-half lead. Trailing 47-43 at halftime, CU got down by as much as 11 points, 57-46, three minutes into the second half.

Down 60-49 to SMC (3-1), Concord went on a 9-0 run with fifth-year senior forward Lual Daniel Rahama supplying seven of the nine points. However, the Purple Knights ran the lead back up to 72-60 with 8:49 remaining in the contest.

The Mountain Lions made one last run in the game as a three-pointer from senior guard Brandon Kennedy with 4:32 left cut the deficit to 78-75, capping an 8-0 scoring spurt. But, it was the closest Concord would get down the stretch of the game.

The teams traded the lead six times, all in the first half, with Concord taking its largest lead of nine points, 27-18, after a three-pointer from junior guard Ethan Heller at the 9:08 mark. But a 12-2 run from Saint Michael's gave the Purple Knights the lead for the remainder of the game.

Two Mountain Lions, Rahama and fifth-year senior guard Matt Weir, paced the offense with double-doubles. Rahama poured in a career-best 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting. He added 13 rebounds. Weir scored 11 points and added 11 assists, becoming the first CU player with an assist-points double-double since Tommy Bolte in December 2018.

Kennedy tallied 12 points on four made three-pointers. Heller reached 100 career made three-pointers by knocking in three for his nine points. Heller added seven assists. As a team, CU made 14 three-pointers.

The Mountain Lions play D'Youville in the third place game of the Gary Miller Classic 5:30 p.m. Saturday.