WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball dropped a 127-79 decision to West Liberty Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game inside the ASRC.
The Mountain Lions (12-11, 9-9 MEC) went stride-for-stride with the nationally-ranked, 12
th-rated Hilltoppers (21-3, 16-2 MEC) early on as the first half featured 14 lead changes and six ties.
Concord went on a 7-2 run to take an 18-17 advantage after junior guard
JJ Harper scored two of his team-best 15 points at the 12:46 mark. Three minutes later, CU grabbed a 28-24 edge on a layup from graduate guard
Lual Daniel Rahama.
Every time WLU threated to pull away from Concord, the Maroon and Gray had an answer including back-to-back three-pointers from Harper and senior
Ethan Heller that gave CU a 38-34 lead with 6:56 remaining in the first half.
With the game tied at 42-42, West Liberty outscored Concord 16-9 over the final 4:19 of the first half.
The momentum carried over into the second half as the Hilltoppers nearly scored 70 points after halftime.
Joining Harper in double figures were Rahama (14), fifth-year senior forward
Da'Vion Moore (11) and freshman forward
Rene Diop (10). Rahama added eight rebounds. Diop's 10 points were a career best.
Both teams finished with 41 rebounds, and the Mountain Lions scored 50 of their 79 points in the paint.
CU welcomes Mercer County rival Bluefield State to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Monday. Â
Â
