Jevon Laidler
Jevon Laidler
60
West Va. Wesleyan WVW 2-23,2-17 MEC
82
Winner Concord Conc 14-11,10-9 MEC
West Va. Wesleyan WVW
2-23,2-17 MEC
60
Final
82
Concord Conc
14-11,10-9 MEC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
West Va. Wesleyan WVW 30 30 60
Concord Conc 30 52 82

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Concord Uses Strong Second Half to Down West Virginia Wesleyan, 82-60

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team exploded for 52 points in the second half as it pulled away from West Virginia Wesleyan for an 82-60 win Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.

Tied 30-30 at halftime, Concord (14-11, 10-9 MEC) was unable to shake the Bobcats (2-22, 2-17 MEC) initially in the second half.

Leading 35-34 with 16:47 remaining, a dunk from freshman forward Rene Diop kickstarted a 22-4 run for CU that span 6:32 of the second half. The run was well balanced as five different players scored, including five points each from junior guard JJ Harper, senior guard Ethan Heller and senior forward Jevon Laidler.

West Virginia Wesleyan did not go away, though, over the final 12 minutes as the 19-point lead was trimmed down to 12 with four minutes remaining. But, a three-pointer from Harper and another bucket from Diop restored a 75-58 lead with 2:28 remaining.

The Mountain Lions watched WVWC storm out to a 9-0 advantage over the first 3:16 of the game. CU's first lead, 27-26, did not come until a Diop dunk with 4:02 left in the first half. The Dakar, Senegal native scored Concord's final six points of the first half.

Despite shooting 40.3 percent to Wesleyan's 43.8 percent, CU went to work on the offensive glass as it turned 20 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Concord also netted 13 points off turnovers.

CU outrebounded the Bobcats 52-32 overall.

Furthermore, the Mountain Lions held WVWC to 2-for-15 from three-point range and sank eight triples of their own.

Harper led all scorers with 18 points in the game—16 came after halftime. Diop tallied his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds—both career highs. Graduate guard Lual Daniel Rahama nearly had a triple-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high tying seven assists, but settled for his 10th double-double of the year.

Laidler just missed a second straight double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.

CU visits Davis & Elkins 4:00 p.m. Saturday in a pivotal MEC game.
 
 
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