WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team was unable to keep pace with nationally-ranked West Liberty late in the second half as it lost 89-76 on the road inside the ASRC in a Mountain East Conference game Saturday afternoon.
With Concord (20-5, 13-5 MEC) trailing 73-70 after a layup from fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler with 7:45 remaining in the game, the Mountain Lions went cold from the floor as they only scored two points over the next 3:45 of the game and watched West Liberty (21-5, 15-3 MEC) open up an 80-72 lead, the largest advantage for either team over the first 36 minutes of the game.
A bucket by sophomore forward
Rene Diop trimmed the deficit back to six points, but it was as close as CU would get over the final four minutes of the game.
The 13-point win for the Hilltoppers was not indicative of how close the game was throughout Saturday afternoon. The contest featured 20 lead changes and 10 ties.
Concord led for nearly 19 minutes in the game with the Maroon and Gray out in front for a majority of the first half. CU opened up a 20-14 margin after a Diop free throw at the 13:03 mark. The Mountain Lions were never able to open up the game in the first half, but WLU only led once, 32-31, over the final 15:40 of the first half.
Concord led 46-42 at halftime as sophomore guard
Kollin Tolbert closed the first-half scoring with two of his 16 points with 10 seconds left in the first half.
Diop's layup pushed the Mountain Lions ahead 49-42, their largest lead of the day, at the 19:17 mark of the second half. WLU answered with a 10-2 run to take a 52-51 edge. From there, neither team led by more than three points until West Liberty's late push over the final eight minutes of the game.
Diop registered a career-best 26 points on 9-for-10 shooting. He made eight free throws in the game. Tolbert notched a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Laidler added 10 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore forward
Ayden Ince scored all seven of his points in the first half while adding seven rebounds.
CU did own a 40-33 margin on the boards against West Liberty, the first time not winning this season when outrebounding the opponents. Concord was previously 18-0.
The Mountain Lions have their home regular-season finale at the Carter Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when they welcome West Virginia State.
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