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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team looks to climb back above .500 when it visits West Virginia State 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a Mountain East Conference game.
LIVE COVERAGE
The West Virginia State Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live streaming video of Tuesday's contest.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 47-38
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
February 23, 2022: West Virginia State 101 - Concord 94 (OT) (Institute, W.Va.)
November 29, 2021: Concord 81 - West Virginia State 70 (OT) (Athens, W.Va.)
February 17, 2021: Concord 96 - West Virginia State 81 (Institute, W.Va.)
January 10, 2021: West Virginia State 89 - Concord 74 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 26, 2020: Concord 89 - West Virginia State 75 (Athens, W.Va.)
POURING IN
In Concord's 82-77 loss to Charleston Saturday afternoon, graduate guard
Lual Daniel Rahama netted 26 points as he shot 12-for-20 from the field. He finished the afternoon one point off his career high which was established last November against St. Michael's. The Newport News, Virginia native did set a new single-game best for shots made. With his performance, Rahama elevated to seventh in the MEC in scoring (17.5 points per game). And he is tied for first in the MEC in rebounds per game (9.0) with West Virginia State's Malik Whitaker. Rahama averaged 17 points against WVSU in two games last season that included a 13-point, 10-rebound contest at West Virginia State for one of his five career double-doubles.
CALL IN THE RESERVES
Through four games, Concord's bench is averaging 24.7 points per game as the reserves have scored at least 18 points in each game. On Saturday's the three-man bench of junior guard
JJ Harper, sophomore forward
Amare Smith and freshman guard
Kollin Tolbert tallied 31 points. The group was led by Smith who netted a season-best 15 points on an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor. Dating back to the start of the season, a 33-game sample size, Concord's bench has scored 20 or more points 18 times, including both instances against West Virginia State last winter. Senior guard
Ethan Heller tallied 15 of the bench's 27 points in an 81-79 overtime home win over WVSU last November. Heller added another 15 points at WVSU as the reserves tallied 23 points.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Concord's offense was polished Saturday afternoon as it shot nearly 55 percent in the second half and 46.4 percent overall in the contest versus Charleston. The Mountain Lions also handled the ball with precision as they only turned it over six times—the fewest turnovers since five at Shepherd in February 2019. While CU hasn't been a high-assist team early in the season—just 10.2 assists per game—the Maroon and Gray's 12.2 turnovers per game are the second fewest in the MEC. CU's two points guards, Heller and Tolbert, only have nine turnovers between them. West Virginia State is turning teams over 17.3 times per game, fifth highest in the conference.
40 ISN'T ENOUGH
Both games between Concord and West Virginia State last season required overtime. Heller's three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining pushed the November Athens meeting to an extra session. Fifth-year senior forward
Da'Vion Moore had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, one of three career double-doubles for the Mount Clemens, Michigan native. Rahama netted 21 points in the win while Heller played 33 minutes off the bench for his 15 points. Junior guard
Jordan Wooden recorded 17 points, Rahama added his double-double, Smith had 13 points and Heller came off the bench with 15 more points, but it wasn't enough as WVSU outscored Concord 11-4 in overtime in a 101-94 win in February.
ROAD ENVIRONMENT
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, West Virginia State is 46-20 at home. The Mountain Lions have been fortunate to go 3-3 in head coach
Todd May first six trips into Walker Convocation Center. One of the wins for the Mountain Lions was a 96-81 win during the 2021 season. Heller was in the middle of Concord's offensive explosion as he went for a career-best 33 points that included five three-pointers. He also handed out a career-high eight assists. As a team, CU shot 46.5 percent for the game, and 54.5 percent in the final 20 minutes. Concord has done well with adjustments at West Virginia State as it has shot 50 percent or better in the last three second halves of games at the Walker Convocation Center.
RUN EM OFF
West Virginia State enters Tuesday's game as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the MEC as it is making 40 percent of its triples, second in the conference. The Yellow Jackets are hitting 9.3 three-pointers per game which ranks fourth in the conference. The Mountain Lions, on the other hand, have hung their hat on shutting down the opponent from three-point range with its pack line defense. CU is holding teams to 28 percent from three-point range, second lowest in the conference. Over the last 50 games, Concord has only allowed seven teams to shoot 40 percent or better from three-point range.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5- Blocks by both Harper and senior forward
Jevon Laidler this season, tied for third most in the MEC.
9- Average number of rebounds for Moore in three games versus West Virginia State.
14- Number of three-pointers attempted by CU Saturday against Charleston, the fewest by a Concord team since November 2019.
WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 3-0
MEC Record: 1-0
Home Record: 2-0
Away Record: 1-0
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
West Virginia State is coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance as it advanced to the second round. Dating back to last season, the Yellow Jackets are 22-3 in their last 25 games. WVSU is without the services of Anthony Pittman, one of the best all-around players in the conference, to start the season. Former WVU player Taevon Horton is fourth in the MEC in scoring at 18.3 points per game. Whitaker is adding 15.7 points per game to go with his nine boards. West Virginia State has shot at least 34 free throws in all three games this season, and went 36-for-49 at the foul line in a 114-90 win at Glenville State Saturday.
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