ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team used a hot shooting day and 14 three-pointers to defeat Wheeling, 92-84, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference contest at the Carter Center.
The Mountain Lions (5-8, 3-5 MEC) started fast as they jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the first seven minutes of the contest after back-to-back three-pointers by freshman guard
Darius Parham at the 13:05 mark.
Wheeling (4-10, 3-5 MEC) trimmed the lead back to 21-20, but Concord had another answered as it scored 11 consecutive points Three-pointers from senior guard
Brandon Kennedy and sophomore guard
Jordan Wooden highlighted the run with Wooden adding a layup in the spurt as well.
After WU scored seven of the next 10 points, freshman forward
Amare Smith capped a three-point play at the 5:35 mark of the first half to give Concord a 38-27 advantage, and CU never saw its lead get back under 10 points for the remainder of the half.
The Mountain Lions led by as much as 19 points in the second half, and was still ahead 16 points, 84-68, at the 6:22 mark after a third triple by Parham. The Cardinals were able to trim the deficit to six points in the final 50 seconds, but fifth-year senior guard
Matt Weir sank four free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
CU led for over 39 minutes of the contest.
Concord shot a season-high 52.2 percent (35-for-67) from the floor and the 14 three-pointers were the most since knocking in 15 triples against West Virginia Wesleyan February 22, 2020. Weir led the barrage with four three-pointers. Parham hit all three of his attempts from beyond the arc, and junior guard
Ethan Heller and fifth-year senior forward
Lual Daniel Rahama both knocked down two triples.
Weir scored 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Junior forward
Jevon Laidler just missed his first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Rahama netted 12 points. Parham hit for nine points. All 10 players that saw action for CU scored at least three points.
CU recorded 19 assists in the contest with Weir's six assists pacing the effort.
Though it took just eight free throws in the contest, the Mountain Lions hit on all eight attempts.
Concord welcomes West Virginia Wesleyan to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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