ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team was downed by nationally-ranked, ninth-rated West Liberty, 113-97, Wednesday night at the Carter Center in a Mountain East Conference matchup.
The Mountain Lions (7-4, 4-3 MEC) went dry from the floor over a five-minute span in the first as West Liberty (12-1, 7-0 MEC) turned a two-point deficit into a 14-point lead.
Down 21-18 seven minutes into the game, senior guard
Ethan Heller scored two of his 18 points before a three-pointer from sophomore forward
Amare Smith on the next possession gave Concord a 23-21 edge at the 11:25 mark. However, WLU took control with a 16-2 run to push the advantage to 39-25.
CU punched back with 10 straight points—six coming from senior forward
Jevon Laidler—to get back within 39-35 with four minutes remaining in the half. However, West Liberty put together another surge and led 54-41 at halftime.
With the teams trading buckets to start the second half, a quick five-point spurt was capped by a three-pointer from Heller to get the Mountain Lions within eight, 67-59, with 15:16 left. After a WLU layup, Laidler came back with two of his season-best and team-best 20 points to get the margin back to within eight.
It was as close as Concord would get in the final 14 minutes of the game as it lost by 16 points.
Heller and Laidler combined to go 13-for-20 from the field with Heller adding six rebounds. Graduate guard
Lual Daniel Rahama netted 15 points to go with 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Smith came off the bench to tally 11 points. Junior guard
JJ Harper, fifth-year senior
Da'Vion Moore and junior guard
Jordan Wooden all registered 10 points. CU held a decisive 42-27 advantage on the boards and scored 56 points in the paint. The Mountain Lions also shot a season-best 54.5 percent (36-for-66) from the field
But, West Liberty canned 16 three-pointers and shot 58 percent from the field.
CU looks to start a new winning streak, after having a five-game streak snapped Wednesday night, when it heads to Wheeling 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
Â
