Concord Travels to Charleston for First MEC Game

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

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team opens Mountain East Conference play 8:00 p.m. Saturday when it visits the Wehrle Innovation Center on the campus of Charleston.

LIVE COVERAGE
The University of Charleston Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live video of the game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Charleston leads 104-55

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS CHARLESTON
March 15, 2024: #7 Charleston 93 - Concord 55 (California, Pa.)
January 24, 2024: #23 Charleston 78 - Concord 67 (Charleston, W.Va.)
November 18, 2023: Charleston 81 - Concord 74 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 18, 2023: Charleston 93 - Concord 82 (Charleston, W.Va.)
November 19, 2022: Charleston 82 - Concord 77 (Athens, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 0-3
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-0
Away Record: 0-3

THROW IT CLOSE
In Wednesday's non-conference game at Bluefield State, junior forward Rene Diop netted his second career 20-point game as he recorded 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Diop's only other 20-point game came last February when he scored a career-best 26 points at West Liberty. The Dakar, Senegal native entered the BSU game having only scored 15 points through the first two games of the season, and had only attempted 12 shots. Diop also blocked three shots in the game which took him to 80 for his career. He is now sixth in program history in career blocked shots, and 17 blocks away from moving into the top five at Concord. This season, Diop is tied for fifth in the MEC in blocks (1.7 per game).

AT THE POINT
Junior guard Kollin Tolbert affected the Bluefield State by more than just his scoring prowess. Tolbert was held down to two points for most of the game, until he scored eight of his 10 points in the game in the final eight minutes of the contest. The Cincinnati, Ohio native added eight assists—two shy of his career high set last season versus West Virginia Wesleyan—seven rebounds and a pair of steals. A year after leading CU in rebounding, Tolbert is 13^th in the MEC in rebounding per game, 6.7, tops among Mountain Lions once again. Tolbert's line of 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists was his fourth career game of at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. His most recent came in a home win over West Virginia State at the end of last year when he scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists.

MULTIPLE THREATS
For the second straight game, Concord had four players finish in double figures. Diop led the scoring for the Mountain Lions. Junior forward Ken Sallee tallied a career-best 15 points in just his third game in the Maroon and Gray while senior forward Amare Smith (11) and Tolbert (10) followed in the scoring column at Bluefield State. At California (Pa.) Saturday, senior guard Corey Boston (14 points) and sophomore guard Georges Archer (12 points) were among the four Concord players with 10 or more points. The other two were Smith and Tolbert. In all, the Maroon and Gray has had six players finish in double figures thus far this season. And entering the weekend, seven players are averaging at least 7.0 points per game for CU.

ROLE REVERSAL
Ahead of Wednesday's road game at Bluefield State, CU was attempting to extend an 11-game series winning streak over the Big Blues before falling to BSU for the first time since November 2017. The Mountain Lions begin MEC play trying to buck a trend of nine consecutive losses to Charleston that dates back to January 2021 when the Mountain Lions won 64-62 inside UC's Wehrle Innovation Center. There have been close calls for Concord in trying to end Charleston's win streak over the Maroon and Gray. CU had a two-possession lead with 12 minutes left at Charleston in January and was unable to close out in a 78-67 defeat. And two years ago at home, the Mountain Lions trimmed a six-point halftime deficit to a point in the second half, but watched the Golden Eagles pull away for an 82-77 win.

TWO OF THE BEST
Tolbert is one of two returning players from last year's All-MEC First Team—the other is Davis & Elkins' Sam Rolle. A matchup to watch Saturday evening will be Tolbert against reigning MEC Tournament MVP and veteran Charleston point guard Dwaine Jones. In the individual head-to-head matchup last season, Tolbert averaged 17.3 points per game in three contests while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor against Jones. Tolbert scored 22 points at UC last season. For Jones, he only scored a total of 24 points in three games versus Concord and Tolbert last season, but he averaged five rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, including handing out at least five assists in all three games.

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE
Last season's road game between Concord and Charleston turned into a grind in terms of each team trying to find its stride on the offensive end. The Mountain Lions held UC to 38.3 percent shooting which was more than 10 percent below their shooting percentage from the 2023-24 season. But, CU was limited to 41.4 percent from the floor as it was outscored 27-15 from the three-point line and 23-14 at the foul line—Concord was 14-for-16 at the free throw line while UC was 23-for-32.  Tolbert (22) and Smith (10) were the only two Mountain Lions to finish in double figures on the road against Charleston last year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9- Career-high points for freshman guard Josiah Rickards as he just missed his first career double-digit scoring game at Bluefield State.

10- Diop notched his tenth career three-block game at Bluefield State Wednesday.

90- Smith is projected to play in his 90^th career game Saturday.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 2-2
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 2-1
Away Record: 0-1

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Charleston and Concord already have two mutual opponents early in the season. UC opened the year with a 112-103 double overtime loss to California (Pa.), but its latest win was a 79-63 victory over Virginia Union. CJ Meredith is one of four players in the MEC averaging at least 20 points per game early in the campaign. Jones adds 13.3 points and 7.5 assists per game. The Golden Eagles lead the MEC in field-goal percentage (51.3). UC is under the direction of first-year head coach James Long who was previously at WVU Tech.