Concord Prepares for Road Game at West Virginia Wesleyan, Celebrates Senior Day Versus Davis & Elkins

Concord Stats - West Virginia Wesleyan Stats - Davis & Elkins Stats - Live Audio (Saturday) - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team faces a road test at West Virginia Wesleyan 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before welcoming Davis & Elkins 4:00 p.m. Saturday for Senior Day in two Mountain East Conference games.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play coverage of Saturday's game at 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: Live in-game statistics will be available for both games this week from the host instutition. 
Video: Concord and West Virginia Wesleyan will also provide live streaming video of the game. 

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are 11-13 this season and 8-10 versus MEC opponents.

West Virginia Wesleyan has mark of 2-22 overall and 1-17 in the MEC.

Davis & Elkins is 6-18 overall and sports a 4-14 record in the conference.

SENIOR SUPERLATIVES
Prior to Saturday afternoon's contest, head coach Todd May and his program will honor three seniors: guard Brandon Kennedy, forward Lual Daniel Rahama and guard Matt Weir. A mainstay in the program for four years, Kennedy suits up in his 97^th career game Wednesday and has added 57 starts since the middle of his sophomore season. The Chillicothe, Ohio native has 134 made three-pointers in his career, good enough for 17^th in program history. Kennedy needs three more three-pointers to tie Javaughn Manuel for 16^th on the three-point list at CU. Additionally, Kennedy has steadily become one of the best on-ball defenders in the MEC. A graduate transfer from Virginia State, Rahama has become a go-to guy for Concord on the offensive end by averaging 15 points per game, second on the team. He also shoots 47.8 percent from the floor, best among qualified players. As a graduate transfer, Weir has injected himself into the MEC as one of the best point guards in the league. The Nashport, Ohio native leads the MEC in assists per game (5.2) while also ranking in the top three in free-throw shooting (87.2) and three-point shooting (41.1). Rahama and Weir have combined for five double-doubles this season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
In Monday's 89-88 win over Bluefield State, senior forward Da'Vion Moore and sophomore guard Jordan Wooden both recorded double-doubles. Moore tied his career high with 20 points to go with a single-game best 12 boards. Wooden netted 11 points and had a career-tying 11 rebounds for the second straight game. Rahama just missed his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and nine more rebounds. Monday marked the second time this season that CU had two players with double-doubles in the same game. Rahama (27 points, 13 rebounds) and Weir (11 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles in a loss against Saint Michael's in November. Led by Moore, Rahama and Wooden, the Mountain Lions had a single-game program record 62 rebounds at Bluefield State which was also tied for the fourth-most in a Division II game this season.

QUALITY LOOKS
For a fifth time this season, CU shot better than 50 percent from the field in its win over Bluefield State. The Mountain Lions tallied a season-best 56 points in the paint as all 10 of Moore's field goals at BSC were in the painted area. Six of the eight field goals for Rahama were in the paint against the Big Blues. Concord relied heavily on the paint after being limited to seven three-pointers by Bluefield State. Earlier in the season, the Maroon and Gray knocked down just seven three-pointers in a 76-59 win over West Virginia Wesleyan as they scored half of their points in the paint. Junior guard Ethan Heller did make five of the seven triples for CU in January versus the Bobcats. Concord shot 49.1 percent from the floor against the Bobcats in the first meeting. For a team that averages over 10 three-pointers per game, Concord has only made seven three-pointers in each of the last two games.

WINNING AT THE ROCK
Traditionally a tough place to play, West Virginia Wesleyan's Rockefeller Center has been unkind to Concord in recent memory. The Mountain Lions have not won consecutive games at WVWC since the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Kennedy's first career start came at Wesleyan two seasons ago as he hit three three-pointers and scored 16 points in an 83-80 overtime loss to the Bobcats. Heller added 10 points and five assists in 42 minutes. Last season, CU was able to pull away from Wesleyan in the second half as it erased a 33-30 halftime deficit and won 77-66. The defensive-minded Mountain Lions held Wesleyan to 38 percent shooting and less than 30 percent from three-point range. Heller scored eight of his 17 points at the foul line as he was perfect from the charity stripe.  Concord also owned a distinct 53-38 rebounding advantage against Wesleyan last February.

EXTRA TIME
In the last four meetings between Concord and Davis & Elkins the home team has come out victorious. In Concord's last two wins, the Maroon and Gray has needed overtime to defeat Davis & Elkins. CU outlasted Davis & Elkins 87-82 at the Carter Center last February. Heller poured in 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting to go with five assists. A couple weeks later in the first round of the MEC Tournament at the Carter Center, the Mountain Lions went to double overtime before defeating Davis & Elkins 107-100. Heller did one better against the Senators as he scored 28 points that included six three-pointers and six assists. In each of its last two wins over D&E, Concord has shot 50 percent or better. However, in the Senators' two wins over the Maroon and Gray, CU has been held to 37 percent in each instance.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5- Double figure scorers for Concord both last night at Bluefield State and in the first matchup with Wesleyan this season.

27- Combined ties and lead changes between Concord and Davis & Elkins in last year's MEC Tournament game.

311- Combined games played for Kennedy, Rahama and Weir in their careers.

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
A scorer at different levels, Jayden Hibbitt is eighth in the MEC in scoring at 19.2 points per game.  Hibbitt has done most of his damage inside the three-point line as he only has 13 triples on the season. Braeden McGrew has quietly put together one of the best seasons of any point guard in the MEC as he scores 13 points per game and his 4.7 assists per game are fourth in the conference. WVWC is allowing opponents to shoot 49.7 percent on the season and the Bobcats are only shooting 42.5 percent from the floor.

DAVIS & ELKINS AT A GLANCE
The Senators sport two of the most dynamic players in the MEC in guard Sam Rolle and big man Breland Walton. Rolle had 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting in the first contest this season against CU. Walton was reduced to four minutes in January due to injury, but in each of his visits to the Carter Center last season he scored 29 points against the Mountain Lions. Rolle nets 20.9 points per game, third in the MEC, while dishing out five assists per contest. Walton is scoring 17.5 points per game, 10^th in the MEC. D&E starts the week having lost eight straight.