Concord Looks for Fifth Win at Salem

Concord Stats - Salem Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team takes on non-conference foe Salem inside T. Edwards Davis Gymnasium 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on the road.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Salem Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live streaming video of the game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Salem leads 45-35

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS SALEM
January 16, 2023: Salem 84 - Concord 68 (Salem, W.Va.)
December 9, 2018: Concord 93 - Salem 76 (Salem, W.Va.)
January 14, 2010: Concord 67 - Salem 55 (Salem, W.Va.)
February 9, 2009: Concord 90 - Salem 69 (Salem, W.Va.)
February 8, 2008: Concord 68 - Salem 62 (Athens, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 4-1
MEC Record: 1-1
Home Record: 1-1
Away Record: 2-0
Neutral Record: 1-0

RALLY CATS
CU improved to 4-1 this season as it took down West Virginia State, 73-71, prior to a short Thanksgiving break. The Mountain Lions erased a 14-point halftime deficit and a 12-point second-half margin as it downed the Yellow Jackets by two points. It marked the third time since the start of the 2021-22 season that CU has rallied back from 10 or points to win. All three have come on the road: at West Virginia State this season, at Wheeling—when Concord stormed back from a 15-point deficit—last year and at Frostburg State during the 2021-22 season. In the comeback at WVSU, the Mountain Lions held the Yellow Jackets to 22 points and 27.5 percent shooting in the second half.

RISE TO THE OCCASION
Down a starter at West Virginia State—senior guard JJ Harper did not play due to injury—the Mountain Lions came together to fill the void of Harper. Fifth-year senior forward Jevon Laidler got his first start of the season and pumped in a season-best 17 points. In fact, Laidler had only scored 23 points in the first four games of the season and had only attempted 20 shots. The Miami, Florida native finished last year by scoring in double figures in six of the last seven games. Freshman forward Boubacar Djigo came off the bench for seven points and five rebounds in eight minutes. CU also got a double-double from sophomore guard Kollin Tolbert (14 points, 10 rebounds), his second of the season.

SECOND CHANCES
Even though Concord was outshot in the game at West Virginia State (45.3-42.9 percent), the Mountain Lions still found a way to win against the Yellow Jackets thanks in part to their work on the offensive glass. CU collected 19 offensive rebounds that turned into 20 second-chance points. The Maroon and Gray outscored WVSU 20-6 in second-chance points. Four of the five rebounds for Djigo came on the offensive glass. Junior forward Amare Smith grabbed three offensive rebounds while sophomore forward Rene Diop, Tolbert and senior guard Jordan Wooden each had two offensive boards. CU is averaging 13.2 second-chance points on 14.6 offensive rebounds per game this season.LIVE C

ONE AND DONE
While the Mountain Lions have done a stellar job of creating second opportunities this season, Salem has limited its opponents' offensive rebounds. The Tigers are giving up just 9.8 offensive rebounds per game, and no team has gotten more than 14 offensive rebounds on Salem in 2023-24. Both Concord and Salem rank in the top 25 in Division II in rebounding margin. The Tigers are tied for 23^rd (+9.0) while Concord is 27^th (+8.2). Last year when CU traveled to Salem, the teams finished tied in rebounding at 37-37. The Mountain Lions were able to grab 16 offensive rebounds last season at Salem. Diop and Smith are both averaging 1.8 offensive rebounds per game.

TAKE IT AWAY
Under eighth-year head coach Todd May, Concord has not traditionally been a team that tallies a bunch of steals as it plays a conservative pack line defense. However, this season CU has made a habit of swiping the ball away from the opposition. The Mountain Lions have collected 21 steals in the last three games, the most in a three-game stretch since the early part of last season when they also had 21 steals against Ohio Dominican, Notre Dame and Alderson Broaddus. As a team, Salem has been loose with the ball this season as it averages nearly 20 turnovers per game, 19.4. The Tigers have not had fewer than 16 turnovers in any of their five games this season. And opponents are scoring 18.8 points per game off Salem turnovers.

FINDING THE RANGE
Through five games, Concord has yet to find a consistent touch from three-point range as the Maroon and Gray is making less than five three-pointers per game and shooting less than 30 percent from beyond the arc. But, Salem is allowing teams to shoot 37 percent from three-point range this season. If the Tigers were in the MEC, it would be the second-highest opponent three-point percentage. Smith is shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range, but has only made seven triples this year. Wooden has a team-best eight triples this season and is shooting 36.4 percent. The rest of the Mountain Lions are below 30 percent. Salem is also allowing 11 made three-pointers per game in 2023-24.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7- National ranking for Concord in total rebounds per game, 45.8.

15- Concord has scored at least points off turnovers in the last two games.

20- Made free throws out of 23 in last year's loss at Salem, shooting 87 percent at the foul line.

SALEM AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 1-4
Home Record: 0-2
Away Record: 0-2
Neutral Record: 0-1

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Salem is coming off a 19-12 season in 2022-23, but is under the guidance of first-year head coach Vincent Thibodeau. Ashraf Tchadouwa is averaging a double-double of 16.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Jack Garrison has taken nearly double the times of three-pointers than two-point field goals this season (32-18) in scoring 13.2 points per game. Ian Hardy rounds out the double-figure scorers for SU with 13.0 points per contest. The lone win for Salem this year was a 112-100 shootout versus Glenville State in the second game of the season.