ELKINS, W.Va. – A 16-0 run by the Concord University men's basketball team across both halves propelled them to a 94-80 win over Davis & Elkins Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the McDonnell Center.
With Saturday's victory, CU runs its winning streak to nine straight games—the longest winning streak since 1997-98.
Davis & Elkins (13-11, 8-8 MEC) connected on a three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining in the first half to cut the margin to 35-34. However, senior guard
JJ Harper concluded the first 20 minutes of play by hitting for three of his 15 first-half point as Concord (19-4, 12-4 MEC) took a 38-34 lead into the intermission.
Out of halftime, sophomore forward
Rene Diop and senior guard
Jordan Wooden combined for the first seven points of the second half. Diop opened the second half with a dunk before Wooden finished off a traditional three-point play at the 19:29 mark.
Diop got another bucket in the paint to stretch the lead to a then game-high 11 points, 45-34. The offensive eruption continued as fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler capped the scoring spurt at the 17:34 mark, taking the lead to 51-34.
Included the second-half burst by the Mountain Lions was CU making 10 of its first 12 shots of the second half.
CU took the lead to as much as 20 points, twice, in the second half with the latest coming courtesy of a twisting layup from junior forward
Amare Smith at the 12:43 mark to stretch the margin to 64-44.
Up 16 points, 69-53, after a Laidler three-pointer with 10:19, Concord needed to hold off a small surge by the Senators. D&E trimmed the lead to 10 points on two different occasions, but the Mountain Lions maintained a double-digit lead throughout the majority of the second half as D&E never could get inside single digits down the stretch.
The first half featured 13 lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points.
With the strong first half, Harper finished with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert went for 19 points while adding a career-best six steals. Laidler was efficient in scoring 16 points as he shot 7-of-11 from the field.
Diop (14 points, 10 rebounds) notched his second straight double-double.
The Mountain Lions shot 56.5 percent for the game, including 66.7 percent (20-of-30) in the second half. And Saturday was the first time this season that Concord won despite getting outrebounding, previously 0-4.
Davis & Elkins owned a slim 33-31 edge on the boards.
CU welcomes Wheeling to the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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