SALEM, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team used an early surge to pull away from Salem in a 72-56 win Wednesday night at Davis Gymnasium in a non-conference contest.
Down 14-10 in the first eight minutes of the game, CU (5-1) sprung out to a nine-point edge, 23-14, thanks to a 13-0 run. Junior guard
Corey Boston came off the bench to score nine of the 13 points, including hitting two three-pointers and getting a traditional three-point play.
Though Concord was in command of the game, the Tigers (1-5) never let the Mountain Lions get away in the first half until the final six minutes of the opening 20 minutes. CU held Salem to two points over the final 5:38 of the half and built a 39-20 halftime advantage.
Out of the locker room, back-to-back buckets from junior forward
Amare Smith took the lead to 23 points. The lead stayed at least 18 points until the final three minutes of the contest.
Freshman guard
Georges Archer capped a 12-4 spurt with a corner three-pointer at the 10:58 mark to up the advantage to 59-33. Just over three minutes later, fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler finished off an old-school, three-point play as the lead went to a game-high 28 points, 65-37.
The closest Salem got in the final stages of the game was 15 points.
With the game well in hand, ten different Mountain Lions played at least eight minutes in the contest.
Boston and Smith each scored 13 points with both scoring nine in the first half. Archer tallied all 12 of his points after halftime while senior guard
Jordan Wooden netted 10 of his 12 points in the first half. Wooden added three blocks.
Sophomore forward
Rene Diop also collected three blocks and corralled eight rebounds.
Defensively, CU stifled Salem into 32.9 shooting and 15 percent from three-point range (3-for-20). The 56 points allowed by Concord is the fewest since giving up 53 to Bluefield State in December 2016.
The Mountain Lions return to the Carter Center 4:00 p.m. Saturday for a Mountain East Conference game versus Notre Dame.
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