Concord Opens MEC Play at Home Against Charleston

Concord Stats - Charleston Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team begins the Mountain East Conference portion of its schedule 4:00 p.m. Saturday when it welcomes Charleston to the Carter Center.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord Univeristy Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics and live video of Saturday's contest. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Charleston leads 99-55

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
March 4, 2022: Charleston 88 - Concord 84 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
January 19, 2022: Charleston 99 - Concord 71 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 20, 2021: Charleston 94 - Concord 74 (Charleston, W.Va.)
February 20, 2021: #20 Charleston 86 - Concord 65 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 7, 2021: Concord 64 - Charleston 62 (Charleston, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 2-1
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-0
Away Record: 2-0
Neutral Record: 0-1

BOARDING IT UP
CU recorded 50 rebounds in its win over Bluefield State Tuesday night as it pulled down 50 boards for the second time in three games to start the season. Graduate guard Lual Daniel Rahama led the way with 13 rebounds to go with 13 points for his first double-double of the season. Tuesday night and last Saturday against Indiana (Pa.) marked the first time Concord notched 50 or more rebounds twice in a three-game stretch since January 2018 when it had back-to-back 50-rebound games against Glenville State and UVa.-Wise. Rahama is fourth in the MEC in rebounds per game (9.3) while fifth-year senior forward Da'Vion Moore (6.3) and senior forward Jevon Laidler (5.3) are both pulling down five boards a game. As a team, Concord is second in the MEC in rebounding margin (+7.7).

GETTING WARMED UP
After shooting 25 percent and scoring only 28 points in the first half against Bluefield State, the Maroon and Gray erupted for 60 points in the second half and shot 53 percent from the floor. It was the most points in a half for CU since scoring 61 in the second half of a loss at West Liberty in January 2018. Junior guard Jordan Wooden scored 12 of his 17 points after halftime Tuesday night while fellow junior guard JJ Harper poured in 11 points, of his 18, after the intermission. The duo combined to go 9-for-13 from the floor in the second half at Bluefield State.

COMING IN HOT
Harper led the Mountain Lions in scoring Tuesday night as he played 25 minutes and made 7-of-12 field goals. He added four rebounds and three steals. It was the most points off the bench for a Concord player since Moore had 18 in a reserve role in a January 2021 win over Alderson Broaddus. Freshman guard Kollin Tolbert (six) and sophomore forward Amare Smith (five) rounded out the 29 bench points for CU at Bluefield State. Both played 11 minutes. Harper, Smith and Tolbert combined to shoot 11-for-20 from the floor.

FINDING THE RANGE
Through three games, CU is only shooting 23 percent from three-point range. However, the Mountain Lions have traditionally been a sharp shooting team from beyond the arc. Concord shot 38.3 percent from three-point distance last season in three games versus Charleston as it made at least eight three-pointers in each contest. The best game from three-point distance came in the MEC Tournament when Concord hit on 11-of-23 attempts (47.8 percent). Senior guard Ethan Heller and Rahama were a combined 4-for-9 from three-point range versus UC in the MEC Tournament game in March. CU will be looking to shut down the Charleston three-point game. Charleston is averaging eight three-pointers per game, but Concord is only allowing 27.4 percent from deep and just over five makes per game.

ENDING THE STREAK
Charleston has won the last four meetings between the Mountain Lions and Golden Eagles. The last CU victory came in January 2021 when Concord grabbed a 64-62 win at Charleston. Heller netted 18 points in the win. Playing short-handed a season ago at home, Concord led UC at halftime, 42-41, as it shot 55 percent in the first half. However, Charleston pulled away for a 99-71 win. In his first career start, Smith posted 16 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Rahama added 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting in January versus Charleston. Laidler went for seven points and eight boards. The game featured nine ties and 14 lead changes.

DON'T GET COMFORTABLE
Saturday will be the only time that Concord plays at home in the month of November as six of the first seven games for CU this season are away from the Carter Center. Last season, Concord was 8-4 at home. Half of the 12 home games were decided by eight points or less. The Mountain Lions will have a similar stint on the road in January. Beginning January 7 at Wheeling, the Mountain Lions have a stretch of seven games where only one is at home, January 14 against Davis & Elkins. By winning at Clarion Sunday and again at Bluefield State, CU picked up two road wins. Concord's second true road win of 2021-22 didn't occur until February 2 at Frostburg State.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
20- Concord has had at least 20 offensive rebounds in two of the three games this season.

47- Percentage CU shot against Charleston in the MEC Tournament last year.

155- Saturday will be the 155^th all-time meeting between the two schools.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 1-2
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 1-0
Away Record: 0-1
Neutral Record: 0-1

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
After an 0-2 start to the season, Charleston picked up its first win of the season by defeating Elizabeth City State 90-80 Wednesday night. Eddie Colbert is UC's leading scoring through three games as he is averaging 15.3 points per game. Tyler Eberhart is perhaps the most valuable player to Charleston as he puts up averages of 10.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 blocks to go with 13.3 points per game. Eberhart is second in the MEC in rebounding and is tied for first in blocks.