ATHENS, W.Va. – A three-pointer from junior guard
Ethan Heller helped force overtime and ultimately push Concord past West Virginia State, 81-79, Monday night in a Mountain East Conference contest at the Carter Center.
Trailing 70-65 with less than 90 seconds left in regulation, fifth-year senior forward
Lual Daniel Rahama weaved his way to the basket to get Concord (3-4, 1-1 MEC) within three. After a West Virginia State (3-3, 0-1 MEC) miss on the front end of a one-and-one and a steal by Rahama, he pushed the ball up the floor and found Heller for a left wing three-pointer to tie the game at 70-70 with 28 seconds left.
Senior guard
Brandon Kennedy forced a deep three-pointer by WVSU's Glen Abram at the regulation buzzer to force overtime.
Heller rang in a three-pointer to start the extra session as the Yellow Jackets never led in overtime. WVSU tied the game at 75-75, but Concord scored six of the next eight points with Heller and Rahama combining for all eight.
Up 81-79, CU forced a halfcourt heave from West Virginia State that was off the mark as time expired.
West Virginia State bounced out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game, but the Mountain Lions responded with a 15-4 run to go up 15-12 at the 14:03 mark of the first half. From there, neither team led by more than six points.
After relinquishing an 18-17 edge, the Yellow Jackets didn't lead again until the 11:10 mark of the second half—CU led for nearly 25 minutes of the contest. The game featured just five lead changes, but 11 ties.
Fueled by a big second half and overtime where he scored 16 of his 21 points, Rahama finished as the game's leading scorer. Heller dropped in 12 of his 15 after halftime. Senior forward
Da'Vion Moore posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Kennedy added 11 points with nine coming in the first half, and fifth-year senior guard
Matt Weir tallied eight point and eight assists.
CU connected on 11 three-pointers in the game with eight coming in the first half.
The Mountain Lions shot 43.2 percent while holding WVSU to 36.5 percent for the game, including 30 percent after halftime.
Concord welcomes Alderson-Broaddus to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Â
