INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team stormed back from a 12-point second-half deficit to collect a 73-71 road win Tuesday night at West Virginia State in a Mountain East Conference game at the Walker Convocation Center.
CU (4-1, 1-1 MEC) trailed 62-50 with 14 minutes remaining in the game, and was down 10 points, 63-53, when the comeback began at the 12:20 mark.
The Mountain Lions held West Virginia State (1-3, 0-2 MEC) to four points over the next six minutes as senior guard
Jordan Wooden capped an 11-2 run to get Concord within 67-64 with 6:06 left.
After a steal from junior forward
Amare Smith and subsequent layup on the next possession pulled Concord within one, sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert pushed the Maroon and Gray ahead at the 4:05 mark.
West Virginia State finally got back in the scoring column with two free throws at the 2:48 mark. However, Tolbert came right back with a twisting layup after a pair of offensive rebounds kept the possession alive.
WVSU answered at the 1:48 mark with a layup, and Smith gave Concord a 72-71 lead after two free throws with 1:15 remaining.
The Mountain Lions were unable to extend the lead with 31 seconds remaining setting up some late drama. As the Yellow Jackets drove to the basket, Smith rotated over and smacked the potential go-ahead layup off the backboard and into the hands of sophomore forward
Rene Diop with 1.1 seconds left.
Diop made the first free throw, and WVSU's 85-foot desperation shot was well short at the buzzer.
Concord came out firing as it shot 65 percent over the first seven minutes of the game and shot out to a 19-16 edge, leading by as much as nine points in the early going.
But, West Virginia State clipped off a 15-2 run to take a 31-21 advantage before extending the lead to as much as 14 points in the first half.
The Mountain Lions limited WVSU to 22 points in the second half, and the Yellow Jackets made just one of their final 11 shots in the game.
Though CU was outshot in the game (45.3 percent-42.9 percent), Concord turned 19 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points, and held a 47-34 advantage on the glass.
CU was led by fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler as he poured in 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Smith scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime. Tolbert went for 14 points and 10 rebounds—his second double-double of the year.
Wooden netted 11 points.
The Mountain Lions travel to Salem November 29 for a non-conference clash. Â
Â
Â
Â
