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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - Off its first win of the season, the Concord University men's basketball team welcomes Point Park to the Carter Center for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff Wednesday in a Mountain East Conference game.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live video of the game.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: First Meeting
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 1-4
MEC Record: 1-1
Home Record: 1-0
Away Record: 0-4
RETURN TO SENDER
In Concord's 90-78 win over West Virginia State Tuesday evening, the Maroon and Gray collected 12 blocks in the game. Junior forward
Rene Diop finished one block shy of his career high as he registered half of CU's blocks. In his second career start, freshman forward
Kraig Gilbert came up with five blocks while junior guard
Kollin Tolbert tallied just his third career block. Diop leads the MEC in blocks per game (2.6) while Gilbert vaulted up to second in the conference with 1.8 blocks per game. Diop is seventh in Division II in blocks per game. Concord's 12 blocks are the most since the Mountain Lions rolled up 17 blocks at West Virginia State in January 2012. Because of the blocks, CU held the Yellow Jackets to 40 percent shooting.
MARCH TO THE LINE
CU attempted 30 free throws in the win over West Virginia State as it finished 26-for-30 at the charity stripe. Over the last two games, the Mountain Lions have shot 71 free throws after taking 41 in the double overtime game at Charleston. Overall, Concord is third in the MEC in free throws attempted (145) and second in the league in free-throw percentage (75.2). The last time CU took 70 or more combined free throws in back-to-back games was November 2015 versus Livingstone and West Virginia State when it attempted 79 foul shots. Individually, senior forward
Amare Smith is second in the MEC in free-throw percentage (87.5/21-for-24). Tolbert is second in the MEC in free throw attempts (44) and is tenth in percentage (79.5/35-for-44).
UNLIKELY SUSPECTS
In the win over West Virginia State, the Mountain Lion reserves came to the forefront as Concord tallied 30 or more bench points for the second time in five games this season. Sophomore guard
Georges Archer came off the bench to score a career-best 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Archer also tie
d his career high in made three-pointers (two). In the closing minutes of the game, redshirt freshman guard
John Gabbert was called upon to step up and go 6-of-6 at the foul line which his six points were also a career high. Fellow redshirt freshman guard
Brendan Hoffman also scored his first career points by going 3-of-4 at the free throw stripe. After playing a career-high 38 minutes at Charleston, Gilbert flirted with his first career double-double as he finished with nine points and seven rebounds to go with his five blocks in 28 minutes.
BLUE COLLAR EFFORT
On Wednesday, CU welcomes the top field-goal defense in the MEC in Point Park. The Pioneers are holding teams to 41.3 percent shooting. PPU is also giving up the fifth-fewest points in the conference (78.1). Concord is coming off its best defensive effort of the year by holding West Virginia State to 40 percent. The Mountain Lions also picked up their first win when shooting worse than the opponent since last year's home win over Virginia Union—CU finished the contest versus WVSU shooting 39.7 percent. Concord's success at the foul line as well as the rebounding advantage of 50-41 allowed the Maroon and Gray to win the game. In seven games, only Millersville has shot above 45 percent versus Point Park. Â
BUST THE BOARDS
The two best rebounding teams in the MEC will be showcased Wednesday night. Point Park has an astounding rebounding margin of 18.3. The Pioneers have four rebounding margins of 20 or more this season, including a +22 (53-31) margin on the glass versus West Liberty. PPU also outrebounded Glenville State by 21 (58-37). Concord's rebounding margin is 3.4 this winter. PPU's Fisher Nazareth leads the conference in rebounding (14.1 per game) while Aiden Miller is fourth (9.0 boards per game). Tolbert is 11
th in the MEC in rebounding (6.8) while Diop is 12
th (6.6). But, the Mountain Lions are also getting at lest four rebounds per game from senior guard
Corey Boston (4.5), Smith (4.4), Gilbert (4.2) and graduate guard
Jordan Wooden (4.0). The only time CU has been outrebounded this year was at Charleston, and only by two (41-39).
TOP SCORERS
Tolbert continued his torrid scoring versus West Virginia State as he netted 25 points. The Cincinnati, Ohio native continues to lead the MEC in scoring (25.2) and is the only player in the conference netting at least 20 points per game. He ranks seventh in Division II in points per game, just over two points off the pace being set by Northwestern Oklahoma's Max Alexander (27.8). Point Park brings Kaden Warner to the Carter Center Wednesday as Warner ranks fifth in the MEC in scoring (18.6). The Rio Grande transfer has pumped in 30 or more points twice this season and has only been held under 10 points once this year, against Millersville. Concord held WVSU's top scorer Miguel Martinez to nine points Tuesday.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
12- Made free throws by Concord inside the final three minutes versus West Virginia State in 15 attempts.
87- Career blocks by Diop which ranks sixth in program history.
121- Career wins for head coach
Todd May as he moved into fourth on the all-time wins list at CU after the victory over West Virginia State.
POINT PARK AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 4-3
MEC Record: 1-2
Home Record: 0-1
Neutral Record: 1-1
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Two of the four wins for Point Park are against Penn State branch campuses which are non-NCAA schools. Nazareth is PPU's second-leading scorer as he averages a double-double of 12.6 points and 14.1 rebounds per game. Brenden Williams is scoring 10.7 points per game. The Pioneers won their most recent game, a 75-71 victory over Wheeling. Nazareth scored 14 points and tied the MEC single-game record with 25 rebounds.
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