Concord Holds Off Notre Dame for 87-79 Win

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – A 10-0 run during the middle stages of the second half helped propel the Concord University men's basketball team to an 87-79 win over Notre Dame in a Mountain East Conference contest inside Murphy Gymnasium Wednesday night.

Notre Dame (10-10, 5-9 MEC) had just got done erasing a 57-51 lead from the Mountain Lions (15-4, 10-4 MEC) with an 8-2 run to tie the game with 9:47 remaining. However, CU answered as it rattled off the next 10 points.

A driving layup from fifth-year senior Jevon Laidler jumpstarted the run. On the next NDC possession, sophomore forward Ayden Ince came up with a block and ran the floor to finish his own lay-in on an assist from junior guard Corey Boston. Another defensive stop produced a Laidler three-pointer for Concord, and a second consecutive three-pointer—this time from freshman guard Georges Archer—gave the Maroon and Gray its first double-digit lead of the night, 69-59, with 7:45 remaining.

Notre Dame was unfazed and ripped off a 13-6 run to get within 75-72 with three minutes left.

The Falcons had chances to get closer, but a turnover with 2:05 left to go allowed Laidler to drain his third three-pointer of the night to push the lead back to six with 1:50 remaining. Sophomore guard Kollin Tolbert helped close out the game by going 8-for-8 at the foul line in the final 1:08.

CU shot a scorching 56.7 percent in the first half, but was unable to completely pull away from NDC in the second half as it went into halftime with a 45-37 lead.

The Mountain Lions leaned on Laidler and Tolbert as both netted more than 20 points. Tolbert was a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line as part of his career-best 26 points. Laidler posted 24 points to go with eight rebounds as he was 10-of-16 from the field.

Senior guard JJ Harper scored half of his 10 points at the foul line.

CU finished the game shooting 51.8 percent (29-for-56) and connected on 22-of-26 free throws (84.6 percent). The Maroon and Gray owned a 39-32 rebounding advantage and held Notre Dame to eight free throw attempts.

Wednesday's victory equals Concord's win total from the 2022-23 season.

The Mountain Lions welcome Salem to the Carter Center 4:00 p.m. for the final non-conference game of the season. Saturday will be Senior Day for Harper, Laidler, guard Jordan Wooden and forward Akot Aguer.