ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team stood tall on the defensive end as it captured a 63-60 win over Virginia Union Monday night at Carter Center in a non-conference game.
With the game tied at 52-52, CU (17-4) had things stall out on the offensive as it watched Virginia Union take a 56-52 lead at the 5:02 mark of the second half. The Mountain Lions went scoreless for more than four minutes, but stayed within two possessions of the Panthers until a shot dropped for sophomore forward
Rene Diop at the 3:21 mark to trim the deficit to 56-54.
A twisting reverse layup by sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert on the next possession tied the game, but VUU had an answer with a bucket of its own to go up 58-56.
With 1:28 remaining, a scramble off a Concord missed shot resulted in senior guard
Jordan Wooden tracking down the loose ball, eventually finding senior guard
JJ Harper for a three-pointer at the top of the key that was good.
Virginia Union came back with a bucket with 52 seconds remaining. But with 29 seconds left, Tolbert connected on a pair of free throws to push CU ahead 61-60. Not taking a timeout, Virginia Union ran the clock under 10 seconds, and VUU's Tahj Harding was blocked at the rim by Harper. Tolbert tracked down the rebound and was fouled where he pushed the lead to three.
On the final possession, the Panthers' three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining was off line as Concord hung on for the win.
Neither team led by more than six points in the low-scoring affair—CU went up 46-40 with 15 minutes left in the game.
Concord held a 31-30 edge at halftime as it only trailed for 14 seconds in the first half. In total, the Mountain Lions had the advantage for nearly 27 minutes, but the slow methodical pace of the game never allowed CU to pull away.
Diop led Concord with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds and three blocks. Tolbert added 13 points thanks in part to going 8-for-8 at the foul line. Fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler netted 11 points. Harper and senior guard
Jordan Wooden both went for nine points. Harper added five rebounds and three assists.
CU held VUU to 1-for-8 from three-point range.
The Mountain Lions jump back into Mountain East Conference action when they host West Virginia Wesleyan 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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