COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Concord University men's basketball team erased a late regulation deficit and fended off Ohio Dominican in double overtime to pick up a 90-85 win Monday night in a non-conference clash at Alumni Hall.
Trailing 59-54 with 4:16 remaining in the second half, the Mountain Lions (3-3) scored seven of the final nine points of regulation to force overtime. Concord scored six straight points with a jumper from graduate guard
Lual Daniel Rahama pushing Concord in front 60-59. After Ohio Dominican (2-3) went up 61-60 with 1:41 remaining, junior guard
JJ Harper tied the game with a foul shot with 28 seconds left.
CU began the first extra session on a 10-4 run as a layup from freshman guard
Kollin Tolbert gave the Mountain Lions a 71-65 lead with 1:39 remaining. A three-pointer from the Panthers trimmed to 71-68 with 43 seconds remaining. Tolbert made two of his 11 free throws 23 seconds later to restore a five-point edge.
Another triple from ODU left Concord with a two-point margin. With the Maroon and Gray clinging to a 74-71 lead after a 1-of-2 showing at the charity stripe, Ohio Dominican raced the ball into the frontcourt and threw up a left wing three-pointer than bounced on the rim twice before falling through at the first overtime buzzer.
Senior forward
Jevon Laidler was fouled on a three-point attempt on Concord's first possession of the second overtime, and made all three foul shots. The 77-74 margin was a lead that CU would not give back even though Concord never led by more than five points.
The back-and-forth game was a theme for all 50 minutes as neither team led by more than six points. The game featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes.
Both teams' defense ruled the first half as Concord was held to 36.6 percent shooting. Meanwhile, CU held the Panthers to 27.2 percent in the first 20 minutes as the contest was tied 27-27 at the intermission.
Four Mountain Lions finished in double figures led by Tolbert's career high 24 points in 27 minutes off the bench. He shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 11-for-13 at the foul line as he posted 16 of his 24 points in the overtime segments.
Rahama finished with 17 points and nine boards as he was limited to 26 minutes because of foul trouble. Harper went for 13 points, including 8-of-11 at the foul line. Junior guard
Jordan Wooden posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. He added a team-best four assists as well as two steals.
Both teams grabbed 46 rebounds. Concord held ODU to 36.7 percent shooting while hitting 46.7 percent of its shots.
CU jumps back into conference play 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Alderson Broaddus.
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