INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team fell in overtime, 101-94, to West Virginia State Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game at the Walker Convocation Center.
CU (13-14, 10-11 MEC) led for over 26 minutes, but was unable to close the game in regulation. Concord had the lead throughout the course of the second half thanks in part to a hot shooting first half that saw the Mountain Lions make 54.3 percent of their shots to grab a 50-44 lead at halftime.
The hot shooting spurred a 17-9 scoring run for Concord to close the first half after the teams traded the lead 12 times to go with seven ties in the opening 20 minutes.
Still leading 84-76 after a layup from fifth-year senior guard
Matt Weir at the 6:36 mark, Concord saw West Virginia State (22-6, 17-4 MEC) go on a 9-0 run to grab a one-point edge with the 3:20 remaining. The Maroon and Gray found its rhythm on the offensive end and regained an 89-88 lead on another Weir bucket with 1:46 left.
WVSU came back to grab a one-point edge before senior forward
Da'Vion Moore hit a free throw with 49 seconds left to tie the game at 90-90. Both teams got defensive stops with CU forcing a long three-pointer from the Yellow Jackets as time expired to send the game to overtime.
Sophomore guard
Jordan Wooden scored the first bucket of overtime, and two free throws from Weir gave the Mountain Lions a 94-93 edge with 3:02 remaining. However, it was the last lead of the game for Concord.
The Mountain Lions rained in 12 three-pointers in the contest as they made 7-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half. For the game, CU shot 45.4 percent (35-for-77) while holding West Virginia State to 42.7 percent.
Five different players scored in double figures for Concord led by 19 points from Weir. The Nashport, Ohio native handed out five assists as well. Wooden netted 17 points.
Junior guard
Ethan Heller shot 6-of-9 from the floor and added 15 points off the bench. Both fifth-year senior forward
Lual Daniel Rahama and freshman forward
Amare Smith tallied 13 points with Rahama adding 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
Moore just missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard
Brandon Kennedy hit three three-pointers for his nine points.
In total, there were 19 lead changes and 12 ties.
West Virginia State outscored Concord 27-12 at the foul line.
CU concludes the regular season with a trip to Glenville State 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
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