Concord Stats -
Glenville State Stats -
Davis & Elkins Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS,W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team opens up a two-game homestand 6:00 p.m. Wednesday against Glenville State before welcoming Davis & Elkins 4:30 p.m. Saturday in a pair of Mountain East Conference games.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play coverage of both games on 94.5 "Willie" FM and online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics fo both contests.
Video: Live streaming video is available for both contests with Reed and Cox's commentary simulcast on the video stream.
RECORDS
Concord is 4-5 this season after a defeat against Fairmont State.
Glenville State is nationally-ranked 24
th in Division II with a mark of 7-2.
Davis & Elkins is 2-6 in 2021.
BLUE-COLLAR DEFENSE
Concord's defense through nine games in 2021 has been very work man like. The Mountain Lions have the second-best scoring defense in the MEC at 74.0 points per game. At its current pace, it would be the seventh-best defensive season for CU in the 106-year history of Concord basketball. Two keys to the defensive effort is junior guard
Brandon Kennedy's on-ball defense. Over the weekend, Kennedy held Notre Dame's top scorer, Jordan Burton, to nine shot attempts and 14 points. In Concord's home win over Frostburg State last Saturday, Kennedy limited Agyei Edwards (averaging 20 points) to 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Kennedy also forced West Liberty All-American Dalton Bolon into seven turnovers in the upset win of the Hilltoppers back in January.
LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES
Another reason for Concord's defensive success is the rate of defensive rebounding. The Mountain Lions lead the MEC in defensive rebounding rate, grabbing just under 75 percent of opponents' misses this season, best in the MEC. Leading the rebounding effort is junior forward
Mohamed Bundu who has grabbed 46 of his 72 rebounds on the defensive end. Senior guard/forward
Malik Johnson has ripped down 38 defensive rebounds for 46 total. Kennedy has snatched 36 defensive rebounds. Fairmont State had 13 offensive rebounds against CU on Monday which snapped a seven-game streak of limiting opponents to 10 or fewer offensive rebounds. Concord has allowed 11 or fewer second-chance points in six consecutive games.
CLOSING IN ON A MILESTONE
With a three-pointer against Notre Dame and two more at Fairmont State, Johnson is now two three-pointers away from hitting 100 career three-pointers. The Wytheville, Virginia native would be the 26
th player in program history to hit the milestone, and it would be the sixth straight season that a CU player hits 100 three-pointers for a career. Last season,
Trey Brisco finished his career with 109 three-pointers. In 2018-19, Jair Rodgers made 121 three-pointers in his only season at Concord.
Tommy Bolte went over 100 three-pointers in 2017-18 while
B.J. Hamlet did the same in 2016-17. The duo of
Aaron Miller and
Rob Reed achieved 100 three-pointers during the 2015-16 season.
UP AND DOWN
Concord's stingy defense will be put to the test Wednesday as Glenville State visits the Carter Center. The Pioneers lit up the scoreboard with 131 points against Frostburg State on its way to a 131-104 win Monday night on the road. GSC's John Williams scored 52 points in the contest which was the second most in MEC history behind Bolte's 65 points at Charleston January 2019. Glenville State is one of two teams in conference to have made 100 three-pointers as a team this season (106), but Concord is one of three teams in the MEC holding opponents to 30 percent or less from three-point range. CU's 66 three-pointers allowed are the fourth-fewest among league teams. Last season, Glenville State combined to make 36 three-pointers in two wins over the Mountain Lions.
BATTLE OF THE BIGS
Saturday's game will be a stark difference from Wednesday in terms of style of play. Davis & Elkins still averages 81 points per game, but has only made 44 three-pointers. Concord's big men of Bundu, senior forward
Liam Evans, junior forward
Da'Vion Moore and senior forward
David Bea Mulumba will be tasked with stopping the low post duo of Marcus Fleming and Breland Walton who together average 35 points and 22 rebounds per game. Earlier this season, the D&E teammates combined for 25 points and 24 rebounds, but Concord made them volume shooters as they shot just 11-for-27 from the field—Fleming 4-for-10 and Walton 7-of-17. The 67-56 setback at Davis & Elkins started a string of five straight games for Bundu with at least nine rebounds that ended at Fairmont State.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
20- Concord has attempted at least 20 free throws in eight of nine games this season.
31- Concord received 31 bench points in an 80-63 home win over Davis & Elkins last season.
35- Only one team has shot better than 35 percent from three-point range against CU this season. West Virginia Wesleyan hit on 37.5 percent.
GLENVILLE STATE AT A GLANCE
Wyoming County native Justin Caldwell is off to second straight 7-2 start in his third year as head coach of the Pioneers. After an 8-2 start to the 2019-20 season, Glenville State cooled off to finish the season at 14-15. After Monday's outburst, Williams is now averaging 26.0 points per game—best in the MEC. Hegel Augustin's 21.7 points per game are fourth in the league. Nicholas Edwards handed 13 assists against Frostburg State for a double-double of 17 points and 13 assists, his 7.2 assists per game are second in the conference. While GSC is shooting 45.8 percent as a team this season, opponents are hitting 53.1 percent of shots against the Pioneers' defense, including Frostburg State making 55 percent Monday.
DAVIS & ELKINS AT A GLANCE
Along with Fleming and Walton, the Senators have one of the best point guards in the MEC in Sam Rolle IV. Rolle is leading the conference in assists per game at 7.7. Fleming and Walton are the second and fourth-best rebounders in the MEC, and Fleming is one of three players in the league averaging a double-double on the season—the others are Augustin and West Virginia State's Anthony Pittman. Since defeating Concord, D&E has lost four straight games, giving up at least 80 points in all four defeats.
