Concord Battles Charleston, Glenville State to Begin Three-Game Homestand

Concord Stats - Charleston Stats - Glenville State Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video -  Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team starts a three-game homestand when it hosts Charleston 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before Glenville State comes to the Carter Center 4:00 p.m. Saturday in two Mountain East Conference contests.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play coverage on 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming at www.mywillie.com
Stats: Live in-game statistics will be available through the Concord University Sports Information Department for both games.
Video: The CU SID Office will also provide live streaming video for the contests this week.

RECORDS
CU is 6-9 overall and 4-6 against MEC foes.

Charleston is receiving votes in the Division II National Poll and is 11-2 this year. UC is 7-1 in the MEC.

Glenville State is 6-7 overall and 3-6 versus the MEC.

SECOND CHANCES
Concord pulled down 14 offensive rebounds at Davis & Elkins after grabbing 10 offensive boards in a 76-59 win over West Virginia Wesleyan Wednesday. Saturday marked the sixth time in eight games that the Mountain Lions have had 10 or more offensive rebounds. Because of CU's production on the offensive glass and rate at ripping down defensive rebounds, Concord has only been outscored five times in second-chance points this season. And four of those times have been by five points or fewer. Fifth-year senior forward Lual Daniel Rahama is averaging 2.3 offensive rebounds per game, fifth in the MEC. And nearly half of sophomore forward Luken Hill's rebounds (30 of 66) have come on the offensive glass as he is grabbing 2.0 offensive rebounds per game, tied for 10^th in the MEC. Hill had a career-best nine rebounds in CU's home win over West Virginia Wesleyan last week.

SHOOTER'S PARADISE
Concord, Charleston and Glenville State are all in the top five in three-pointers made per game. GSC is the MEC lead with 13.0 triples per game. Concord is hitting 9.9 three-pointers per game to rank third and Charleston's 8.7 three-pointers per game are fifth. UC leads the MEC in three-point percentage at 39.2. Glenville State is hitting 36 to rank fourth while Concord rounds out the top half of the league at 34.9 percent from beyond the arc. CU has shot at least 40 percent from three-point range in its last two home wins over Wheeling and West Virginia Wesleyan. The top two three-point shooters in the conference will be on display Wednesday night. Charleston's Eddie Colbert is hitting 46.7 percent (35-of-75) of his attempts from three-point distance. Fifth-year senior guard Matt Weir has made 40.6 percent (39-of-96) of his tries from behind the arc. And senior guard Brandon Kennedy has made nearly 40 percent of his three-point attempts (5-of-13) in the last two games, scoring double figures in back-to-back games.

A RIVALRY RENEWED
Though Concord's closest opponent is Bluefield State, a distance of 19 miles, the team that the Mountain Lions has played the most in program history is Charleston. On Wednesday night, the teams matchup for the 153^rd time. Charleston leads the all-time series 97-55. Before Charleston won 94-74 at home in November, the road team had been 4-2 in the previous six on-campus meetings. Head coach Todd May is 7-5 in his career against the Golden Eagles with three wins at the Carter Center, three at UC's Wehrle Center and one win in the MEC Tournament. In five career games against Charleston, senior guard Ethan Heller is averaging 15 points and 3.6 assists per contest. Weir had 22 points in November against the Golden Eagles while Rahama added 16 points.

RUN AND GUN
While Charleston gets its 84.5 points per game with efficiency, shooting a Division II-best 53.8 percent, Glenville State scores 92.6 points per game with its pace and three-point making ability. However, the Pioneers give up 91.6 points per game. Last season, the Mountain Lions scored 81 points at home against GSC, but it wasn't enough as they fell 100-81. Though Concord leads the all-time series with Glenville State 57-15, CU will be looking to stop a brief three-game losing streak in the series. In addition to winning in Athens last season, the Pioneers swept the season series two years ago, including scoring 104 points in February 2020.

BATTLE AT THE POINT
This week's game at the Carter Center will feature some of the best point guards in the MEC. CU's Heller and Weir will matchup with Glenville State's John Williams and Charleston's Jeremiah Keene. In addition to his shooting efficiency, Weir is top five in the MEC in assists per game (fourth / 4.4) while Heller is 14^th (3.1). Weir's 2.8 three-pointers per game are third with Heller sinking 2.1 triples per game which is 11^th in the league. In his first year starting at UC, Keene is averaging 9.0 points and 3.7 assists per contest while shooting 42 percent from three-point range in limited attempts. Since GSC lost Nick Edwards for the year to injury, Williams has stepped in to play point guard. Williams, the MEC's leading scorer at 24.1 points per game, posted a triple-double in his first game at point guard last Wednesday. He is fourth in rebounding (8.5) in the MEC.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6- Concord will be looking for its sixth home win of the season in seven tries. It would be the best home start since the 2006-07 team started 8-1 at home.

10- Number of games that the CU bench has scored at least 20 points this season as it fell one point shy of making it 11 games at Davis & Elkins.

50- Shooting percentage for CU in a home win over Charleston over two years ago.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
With Fairmont State storming back to defeat West Liberty over the weekend, Charleston is now atop the MEC standings. Eight of the 11 overall wins for the Golden Eagles have come by double digits, including four straight since losing to West Liberty December 8. With 121 games played, Lamont McManus is second-most seniored player in the MEC behind only Fairmont State's Cole VonHandorf who has appeared in 123 games. A 65 percent shooter for his career, McManus is shooting 66.3 percent this season while averaging 12.3 points per game. Colbert is scoring 14.9 points per game while Keith Williams pours in 13.2 points per game. 

GLENVILLE STATE AT A GLANCE
Glenville State's latest game was an overtime loss to West Virginia Wesleyan which allowed the Bobcats to pick up their first conference win, 97-96. Over his last three games, Luke LeRose is averaging 15.3 points per game, just about double his season average. With Edwards lost for the season, Adrian Scarborough (13.2 points per game) is the only other player, besides Williams, averaging in double figures. Glenville State is allowing opponents to shoot 51.7 percent this season, last in the MEC. Glenville State is the only team in the MEC that has played in three overtime games in 2021-22 with a record of 1-2.