ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team was unable to cool off Charleston in an 81-74 loss at the Carter Center Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference action.
Concord (3-1, 0-1 MEC) shot 50.8 percent from the floor, but Charleston (2-1, 1-0 MEC) shot 50 percent too, and buried 10 three-pointers to Concord's four.
Trailing 39-30 at halftime, the Mountain Lions watched UC build a 13-point lead, 47-34, just 2:08 into the second half.
Undeterred, Concord got right back into the game as senior guard
JJ Harper capped a quick 8-0 run to get the Mountain Lions within 47-42. Concord stayed within reach of the Golden Eagles until a three-pointer stretched the deficit out to 60-48 with 10:25 remaining.
Down as much as 17 points in the second half, CU made one last run at Charleston. Facing an 11-point margin, 77-66, with 1:21 remaining, sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert hit a three-pointer. And after Charleston missed the front end of a 1-and-1, junior forward
Amare Smith capitalized with a three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining to close the deficit to 77-72.
CU got within five again after a Tolbert layup, but the Mountain Lions ran out of time in their late-game comeback try.
The first half featured four ties and seven lead changes with neither leading by more than five over the first 17 minutes. Charleston broke off an 8-2 run in the final 4:05 of the first half to take the nine-point advantage into the locker room.
With his late surge, Tolbert netted a team-best 20 points. Harper added nine points on 8-for-14 shooting. He grabbed six rebounds.
Senior guard
Jordan Wooden filled up the box score with eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Smith notched nine points.
Concord heads on the road to face West Virginia State 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in an MEC clash.
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