FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team fell to Fairmont State 92-86 Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference contest at Joe Retton Arena.
Despite holding Fairmont State to 38.9 percent in the first half, Concord still trailed 40-34 at halftime.
Trailing 9-7 five minutes into the contest, CU watched the Fighting Falcons go on an 8-2 run. However, the Maroon and Gray defense responded by holding FSU to three points over the next six minutes. A three-pointer from senior guard
Ethan Heller cut the CU margin to 20-17 at the 6:37 mark.
The next Fairmont State possession began a 20-10 run as the Fighting Falcons took their largest lead of the first half, 40-27. But again, the Concord's defense responded by holding Fairmont State scoreless over the final 2:19 of the opening half.
Junior guard
JJ Harper tip-in ahead of the first-half horn reduced the halftime deficit to six.
Out of the locker room, CU held steady with Fairmont State until the Fighting Falcons opened up a 51-41 advantage at the 14:29 mark. The Mountain Lions made a run at Fairmont State as a layup from sophomore forward
Amare Smith cut the lead to 65-60.
The teams traded buckets with Concord getting no closer than five points.
Down 83-72, the Mountain Lions forced back-to-back turnovers and converted off those to get within seven at the 1:48 mark. Concord made a late gasp as a three-pointer from Smith went down with seven seconds remaining to trim the edge to 90-86.
Graduate guard
Lual Daniel Rahama finished with his ninth double-double of the season with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Harper netted 18 points. Smith finished with 14 points, and Heller chipped in 10 points.
Concord shot slightly better than FSU (45.6-45.0), and also outrebounded the Fighting Falcons, 49-31.
The Mountain Lions welcome Wheeling to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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