WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – A scoreless five final minutes of the first half was too much for the Concord University men's basketball team to overcome as it fell to West Liberty, 85-67, Wednesday night at the ASRC in a Mountain East Conference game.
The first half featured eight lead changes and three ties. The seventh lead change of the game was CU (4-8, 2-5 MEC) getting a transition layup from sophomore guard
Jordan Wooden that gave the Mountain Lions a 32-31 edge with 5:08 left.
In the first 15 minutes of the contest, the biggest lead for either team was three points. But after the Wooden bucket, the Hilltoppers (12-1, 6-1 MEC) held the Mountain Lions down for the remainder of the half as they took a 40-32 lead into halftime.
West Liberty went up 44-32 on Concord, but the Maroon and Gray had an answer as it hit five of its next six field goals to trim the deficit back to 49-44 after fifth-year senior
Matt Weir canned a corner three-pointer at the 14:31 mark. The five-point margin was the closest CU would get for the remainder of the game as WLU extended its lead back out to double digits two minutes after Weir's triple.
Wednesday night proved to be a defensive game as both defenses held the offenses under 45 percent shooting for the contest. A near 50-percent shooting team, Concord held West Liberty to 43.7 percent from the field while CU was limited to 41.8 percent shooting.
The Mountain Lions also held WLU to 26.7 percent from three-point range. Concord hit on 36 percent of its three-pointers (9-of-25).
Weir scored 17 points with ## coming after halftime. Fifth-year senior forward Lual Daniel Raham netted 14 points and added six rebounds. Wooden had nine points off the bench. Senior guard
Brandon Kennedy and junior forward
Jevon Laidler each had six.
CU returns to the Carter Center to face Wheeling 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
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