ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team used a 12-0 run in the middle part of the second half to pull away from Davis & Elkins in an 88-78 win Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference contest at the Carter Center.
With Davis & Elkins (6-20, 4-16 MEC) threating to pull off a second-half comeback, the Mountain Lions (13-13, 10-10 MEC) scored 12 answered points over a 2:03 span of the half. After freshman forward
Amare Smith went 1-of-2 at the foul line to start the run, the Huntington, West Virginia native nailed a three-pointer before junior guard
Ethan Heller scored the next five points of the spurt.
Heller got a tip back on a missed three-pointer before knocking down his own triple. An old-fashioned three-point play by senior forward
Lual Daniel Rahama at the 6:50 mark gave Concord its largest lead of the game at the time, 74-54.
A three-pointer in the closing seconds allowed the Senators to close within 10 points as they were unable to get any closer before the final horn.
CU led for nearly 37 minutes of the contest as it had a nine-point advantage, 40-31, at halftime after Rahama beat the halftime buzzer with a jumper just outside the paint.
The Mountain Lions began the second half by scoring 13 of the first 17 points. Smith capped that run by burying one of his two three-pointers in the contest as CU went up 53-35 at the 16:46 mark. D&E chipped away at the lead and worked it inside 10 points with 8:53 remaining before Concord erupted for 12 consecutive points.
Concord shot 47.2 percent (34-for-72) in the contest as it collected a season-best 27 assists. Senior guard
Brandon Kennedy tallied a career-high seven assists. Fifth-year senior guard
Matt Weir added six assists and sophomore guard
Jordan Wooden had five assists.
Smith paced the scoring with a career-best 28 points that included his first career double-double of 11 rebounds. On their Senior Day, Rahama (15 points), Kennedy (11) and Weir (11) all finished in double figures.
Defensively, the Mountain Lions held Davis & Elkins to 42.3 percent from the floor, including to 35.3 percent in the first half.
CU finishes the regular season with a two-game road swing that begins at West Virginia State 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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