Concord Travels to Wheeling Monday

Concord Stats - Wheeling Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - After playing its first overtime game of the season in a victory over Davis & Elkins, the Concord University men's basketball team has a quick turnaround with a road contest against Wheeling 5:00 p.m. Monday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Wheeling University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of Monday's game. 
Video: Live streaming video is available through Wheeling. 

RECORDS
With the 87-82 win over D&E, the Mountain Lions elevated their record to 5-5 this season.

Wheeling is coming off a loss at Fairmont State to move its record to 2-7 in 2021.

MULTIPLE OPTIONS
Concord had five players in double figures in the win over Davis & Elkins as sophomore guard Ethan Heller posted a season-best 25 points while going 11-of-19 from the field—tying his career best for made shots in a contest. Senior guard/forward Malik Johnson added 18 points while junior forward Mohamed Bundu netted 12 points. Junior guard Brandon Kennedy and senior forward David Bea Mulumba each had 10 points. It was the second double-digit scoring game of the season for Kennedy, and the fourth for Mulumba, but his first since starting the season with three straight games of 10 or more points. Saturday marked the first time in nearly a year—February 22 vs. West Virginia State—that the Mountain Lions had five players score at least 10 points in the same game.

SHARING IS CARING
CU handed out 17 assists in the victory over Davis & Elkins which was two off the season best set in a win over West Virginia Wesleyan. Heller dished out a team-high five assists while Mulumba had four assists, a season high. In four of the five wins this season, the Mountain Lions have had at least 13 assists as a team, and are averaging 14.8 per game in five wins. In the five losses, Concord is only averaging 9.0 assists per game. The unselfish play on Saturday aided the Mountain Lions in a making a season-best 10 three-pointers. Heller knocked three triples in the game while Kennedy and Mulumba each had two three-pointers. Junior guard Jaguar Jackson came off the bench to hit two first-half three-pointers for his first career points at CU.

TAKE IT AWAY
Concord's defense pressured the Senators into 18 turnovers which tied a season high in turnovers forced. CU also forced 18 turnovers in a home setback against Alderson Broaddus in late January. Of the 18 turnovers committed by Davis & Elkins, ten turned into steals as Mulumba tied a career high with three steals. Heller and Johnson each had two steals in the contest. It was the first time CU had 10 or more steals in a game since collecting 11 in a December 2019 loss at Urbana. Concord outscored Davis & Elkins in points off turnovers, 17-9, in the overtime victory. The Mountain Lions' pack line defense has still forced 10 or more turnovers in seven of 10 games this season.

ATTACK THE GLASS
Since giving up 21 second-chance points in a 73-69 win over West Virginia Wesleyan, the Mountain Lions have not allowed an opponent to consistently hit the offensive glass. For much of the season, Concord has led or been near the top of the MEC in defensive rebounding percentage. Heading into Monday, CU leads the MEC in defensive rebounding percentage at 75.2. In the seven games since playing WVWC, the Maroon and Gray has only allowed an average of 7.2 second-chance points per game. Concord is going up against a Wheeling team that ranks 11^th in the MEC in rebounding margin (-6.2) while CU sits sixth in the league in rebounding margin (+1.9).

MIRROR IMAGE
A look at the box score in Concord's 74-71 road loss at Wheeling last season shows how even last year's game at the McDonough center was. Both teams finished the game shooting 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the floor. Each team made four three-pointers with Wheeling attempting one more than CU (17-16).  The Cardinals were one better in second-chance points (9-8). The biggest difference in the game was Concord committing 23 fouls to Wheeling's 17 fouls, resulting in WU hitting three more free throws than the Maroon and Gray. The Cardinals were also +8 on the glass (40-32). In the loss, senior forward Liam Evans recorded one of his two career double-doubles of 19 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting. Heller added 10 points and four assists.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1- Johnson needs one three-pointer to become the 26^th player in program history with 100 career three-pointers.

38- Concord had four players log at least 38 minutes in the game against Davis & Elkins, led by 43 minutes from Johnson.

51.5- Shooting percentage for CU in the win Saturday—the second highest of the season behind a 54-percent shooting night in an upset of West Liberty.

WHEELING AT A GLANCE
The Cardinals have had two different stoppages this season because of COVID protocols. Wheeling has lost its last two games on the road against perennially conference contenders in Fairmont State and West Liberty by double digits, but in its last home gave nationally-ranked Charleston a scare as UC won by only four points, 73-69. 2020 All-MEC First Team selection Jordan Reid is averaging 21.1 points per game this season. Jarett Haines is scoring 16.3 points per game, and shooting 40 percent from three-point range (14-for-35). Jay Gentry is the only player to start all nine games this season, averaging 10.9 points per game. First-year head coach Chris Richardson recently hired former WVU standout Da'Sean Butler as an assistant coach.