ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team shot 56.3 percent in the second half, but was unable to overcome a double-digit deficit in the first half in an 82-77 loss to Charleston Saturday afternoon in the Mountain East Conference opener at the Carter Center.
Concord (2-2, 0-1 MEC) trailed by 11 points, 29-18, at the 6:30 mark of the first half, but was able to heat up from the field to only be down 38-32 at the break. Junior guard
Jordan Wooden hit CU's first three-pointer of the game with 56 seconds remaining in the first half before graduate guard
Lual Daniel Rahama beat the first-half buzzer with a jumper.
The Mountain Lions chased the Charleston (2-2, 1-0 MEC) lead throughout the second half as the Golden Eagles went up as much as 10 points, 68-58, with 7:44 remaining. A quick 7-0 spurt from CU trimmed the margin to three points as Rahama and sophomore forward
Amare Smith combined for the points.
After trading buckets for the next few possessions, Concord still found itself down 78-72 with 1:47 left. With a defensive stop, and another triple from Wooden, the Maroon and Gray was back within three, 78-75, with 52 seconds left.
Charleston got a key offensive rebound and put back on the next possession and extended the lead back to five points with only 28 seconds remaining.
Rahama had a strong game with 26 points on 12-for-20 shooting as he finished a point shy of his career high. He added eight rebounds. Smith came up with 15 points off the bench on 6-of-8 from the floor. With the late flurry of action, Wooden got into double figures with 10 points.
CU shot 46.4 percent for the game as Charleston hit on 49.2 percent.
The Mountain Lions travel to West Virginia State 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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