RICHMOND, Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team mounted a late charge, but fell to Virginia Union, 86-81, Wednesday night in the season opener at Barco-Stevens Hall.
VUU (3-0) led 70-68 with 4:22 remaining after two free throws by senior forward
Amare Smith. But, the Mountain Lions (0-1) watched Virginia Union score eight of the next nine points to take its largest lead of the second half, nine points—78-69—with 1:53 remaining.
However, Concord busted off a 10-3 run that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard
Kollin Tolbert. The nine-point deficit was trimmed to two, 81-79, with 43 seconds left, but CU could not get another stop for a chance to tie or take the lead with under 30 seconds remaining.
The Panthers jumped out to 20-10 lead through eight minutes, but Smith's layup at the 6:51 mark of the first half tied the game for the first time, 29-29, before freshman forward
Kraig Gilbert gave CU's its first lead a minute later, 30-29.
The game seesawed back-and-forth with VUU taking a 41-37 lead into halftime.
CU erased an early seven-point second-half deficit to lead 59-55 at the 10:50 mark after two Tolbert free throws. But, Concord could never fully pull away from Virginia Union.
Tolbert poured in 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Smith was an efficient 5-of-9 from the field for his 14 points. Both canned a pair of three-pointers. Senior guard
Corey Boston had an all-around game with 11 points, seven assists and four steals. Junior forward
Ken Sallee came off the bench as he connected on two three-pointers for part of his eight points.
The Mountain Lions outrebounded VUU, 32-24, but allowed the Panthers to shoot 55.6 percent. Concord made 45.8 percent of its shots (27-for-59).
CU faces nationally-ranked California (Pa.) on the road 7:00 p.m. Saturday.
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