ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team used a 15-0 run that bridged the first and second halves as it defeated West Virginia Wesleyan, 76-59, Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game inside the Carter Center.
Trailing 24-23 at the 4:10 mark of the first half, CU (6-8, 4-5 MEC) scored the final 10 points of the opening half as it silenced West Virginia Wesleyan (1-14, 0-9 MEC) after the Bobcats had scored six straight points to take the one-point advantage.
The first three points of the half-ending run came on free throws before junior guard
Ethan Heller threw in one of his five three-pointers of the contest. A transition layup from senior guard
Brandon Kennedy at the 1:32 mark expanded the lead to 31-24. And Heller's lob pass to sophomore guard
Jordan Wooden ended with one of three first-half dunks from Wooden as the halftime buzzer sounded.
After two more foul shots, Heller capped the run with another triple with 17:53 remaining in the game. Overall, the Mountain Lions held Wesleyan scoreless for 6:36 of the contest.
Just over two minutes later, Concord's lead was shrunk to six points, 39-33, but CU quickly ripped off the next seven points led by Wooden's only triple of the contest at the 13:31 mark.
Trailing by double digits for much of the second half, the Bobcats had one more run in them as they got the deficit down to 56-49 with 5:18 remaining. However, Heller stopped the momentum with yet another three-pointer on the next possession and CU led by double digits for the remainder of the contest.
The Mountain Lions started fast as they scored 10 straight points to begin the game before WVWC chipped away at the deficit and took the aforementioned one-point lead with 4:10 remaining in the first half.
Heller led a balanced scoring effort as his five triples helped him to 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Fifth-year senior forward
Lual Daniel Rahama notched his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
In total, the Mountain Lions put five players in double figures. Senior forward
Da'Vion Moore and Wooden both finished with 11 points while Kenendy poured in 10 points.
Concord shot 55.6 percent in the second half and 49.1 percent for the game (27-of-55). Heller handed out a game-best six assists as CU tallied 19 assists as a team for the second straight game.
Defensively, the Maroon and Gray limited WVWC to 36.9 percent shooting, and held a 40-32 advantage in rebounds. Along with Rahama's 11 rebounds, sophomore forward
Luken Hill added to the total with nine.
CU visits Davis & Elkins 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
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