Concord Goes for Season Sweep of Wheeling

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

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team returns to the Carter Center for a Mountain East Conference contest with Wheeling 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics and live video of Wednesday's game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Wheeling leads 34-20

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
January 7, 2023: Concord 81 - Wheeling 76 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 9, 2022: Wheeling 82 - Concord 80 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
January 8, 2022: Concord 92 - Wheeling 84 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 15, 2021: Concord 74 - Wheeling 73 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 12, 2020: Concord 101 - Wheeling 75 (Athens, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 11-10
MEC Record: 8-8
Home Record: 4-3
Away Record: 7-6
Neutral Record: 0-1

LONG RANGE MARKSMEN
The Mountain Lions rang in double-digit three-pointers for the third time in the last four games. The 39 triples made by Concord are the most in a four-game stretch this winter. CU has also shot 38.2 percent from three-point distance in the last four games. Graduate guard Lual Daniel Rahama hit three triples at Fairmont State while senior guard Ethan Heller and sophomore forward Amare Smith each hit on two three-pointers. Rahama is quietly shooting 45 percent (27-for-60) from beyond the arc this season. Heller is also shooting better than 40 percent (41.2 / 40-for-97) from three-point range in 2022-23. Saturday marked the fifth time this season that Smith has made multiple three-pointers in a game. Concord was held to six three-pointers at Wheeling in January.

RIM PROTECTION
After eight blocks on Saturday, CU is approaching 100 blocks for the season. The Maroon and Gray has 98 blocks and its 4.6 blocks per game lead the MEC. With two more blocks, this year's Concord team would be just the eighth team in program history to collect 100 blocks in a single season. Senior forward Jevon Laidler is third in the conference with 1.3 blocks per game while junior guard JJ Harper is sixth in blocks (1.1). Rahama had his first multi-block game of the season Saturday. And fifth-year senior forward Da'Vion Moore has seven blocks in his last four games. The last Concord team to go over the century mark in blocks for a season was the 2011-12 team that finished with 107.  

HIT THE GLASS
Concord held a one-sided 49-31 advantage in rebounding at Fairmont State. It tied for the second-best rebounding margin of the season for the Mountain Lions. The only higher rebounding margin came at Frostburg State in December. Rahama led CU's board effort at Fairmont State as he grabbed 12 rebounds to go with his 25 points—his ninth double-double of the season. With his next double-double, Rahama will become the first Concord player with 10 or more double-doubles in a single season since Terry Hopewell's 13 in 2015-16. Harper tied his career high with seven rebounds at Fairmont State. Moore threw in another seven rebounds while Smith had six boards. CU's rebounding margin for the season of +4.7 is top 40 in Division II.

RALLY LIONS
In an 81-76 road victory at Wheeling January 7, Concord erased a 35-25 halftime deficit as it came back to win. It was the first time that the Mountain Lions rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to win since February 2015 at Shepherd. Rahama hit both of his three-point attempts and scored 19 points to go with 15 rebounds. Eight of the 15 boards for the Newport News, Virginia native were offensive—the most for any Concord player in a game this season. Laidler just missed a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds. He also passed out a career-best four assists. After shooting 31.4 percent in the first half, CU made 55.8 percent of its shots in the second half at Wheeling.

MULTIPLE OPTIONS
Led by Laidler and Rahama, Concord had five players score 10 or more points at Wheeling. Harper came off the bench with 14 points. Heller hit 2-of-4 three-point tries on his way to 13 points, and junior guard Jordan Wooden had 10 points and six rebounds. This season, the Mountain Lions have had four players finish in double figures 11 times. And CU has had at least five players finish with 10 or more points five times. Concord is 4-1 in those games with the only loss coming to West Liberty January 4 when seven players scored at least 10 points. Saturday was one of the 11 instances that the Maroon and Gray had four player net 10 or more points.

MIRROR IMAGE
Concord and Wheeling are both shooting 45 percent for the season. WU's 45.1 shooting percentage is seventh in the MEC while Concord (45.0) is the eighth and final team shooting 45 percent or better from the field in the MEC in 2022-23. The Mountain Lions have shot at least 45 percent 11 times this season. On the defensive side, Concord has held opponents to less than 45 percent 13 times and is 8-5 in those games. CU held Wheeling to 38.5 percent shooting while the second-half outburst allowed the Maroon and Gray to shoot 43.5 percent in January. The Cardinals are just 4-9 in games in which they shoot 45 percent, but all four wins have come in the last five occurrences—wins over Franciscan, Frostburg State, West Liberty and West Virginia Wesleyan. Defensively, Concord holds teams to 42.2 percent this season, second in the MEC. Wheeling is ninth in the MEC in field-goal defense (46.7).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Concord has won back-to-back home games over Wheeling, and will go for its first three-game home winning streak over WU since 2001-2004.

22- Consecutive home games with at least one three-pointer for Heller dating back to the 2021 season.

32- Consecutive free throws made by Smith after going 2-for-2 at Fairmont State.

WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 5-17
MEC Record: 3-13
Home Record: 4-8
Away Record: 1-7
Neutral Record: 0-2

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
After scoring 16 points against Concord in January, John Korte is averaging 24.3 points per game in the eight games since. Korte has vaulted himself into third in the MEC in scoring (20.0). Marcus Johnson is netting 16.6 points per game—ninth in the MEC—and is adding 6.1 rebounds. Wheeling native Brent Price scores 13.9 points per contest. The lone road win for Wheeling came January 14 at Frostburg State. Eleven of the 17 losses for WU have come by nine points or fewer.