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MEC Tournament Central
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team begins Mountain East Conference Tournament play in the quarterfinal round versus Davis & Elkins 12:00 p.m. Friday at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.
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SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 53-29
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS DAVIS & ELKINS
February 17, 2024: Concord 94 - Davis & Elkins 80 (Elkins, W.Va.)
January 13, 2024: Concord 85 - Davis & Elkins 73 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 18, 2023: Davis & Elkins 84 - Concord 83 (Elkins, W.Va.)
January 14, 2023: Concord 86 - Davis & Elkins 73 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 19, 2022: Concord 88 - Davis & Elkins 78 (Athens, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 21-6
MEC Record: 14-6
Home Record: 11-2
Away Record: 9-4
Neutral Record: 1-0
DOUBLE UP
In the regular-season finale at Glenville State, the Mountain Lions had two players, sophomore forward
Rene Diop and senior guard
JJ Harper, record double-doubles. Diop notched his team-best fifth double-double of the season as he scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds at GSU. Harper tallied his second career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. Saturday marked the second time in the last six games that CU had two players go for double-doubles in the same game. Diop and fifth-year senior forward
Jevon Laidler had double-doubles versus West Virginia Wesleyan. Dating back to the Wesleyan contest, Diop is averaging 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 80.4 percent from the floor. Harper is averaging 18.1 points per game in that same six-game stretch while hitting 50.7 percent of his shots.
SECOND CHANCES
At Glenville State, CU pulled down a season-high 22 offensive rebounds, surpassing the 21 it had against Notre Dame on December 2. Four of the 12 rebounds for Harper were on the offensive end. Junior guard
Corey Boston and Laidler each had two offensive rebounds. For the season, Concord averages 12.6 offensive rebounds per game which aids in its national-leading 44.4 rebounds per game. And the Maroon and Gray is ninth in Division II in rebounding margin (6.9). Individually, Diop is seventh in the MEC in rebounding (6.3) while Tolbert is just behind also at 6.3, eighth in the conference. Laidler (11
th/6.0) and Harper (12
th/6.0) are top 12 in the MEC in rebounding. D&E averages 39.3 rebounds per game with 11.5 coming on the offensive end.
A DECADE COMING
By finishing 14-6 in the MEC this winter, Concord clinched the third seed in the conference tournament—its highest conference finish since also finishing third at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season. CU's 21 regular-season wins are tied for the most in program history with the 1990-91, 1991-92 and 2003-04 teams. In the 2015 MEC Tournament, CU had a quarterfinal round exit as Wheeling Jesuit upset the Mountain Lions in the 3-6 contest. The Maroon and Gray is seeking their first MEC Tournament Semifinal appearance since the 2019 conference postseason. The 14 conference wins are tied for the most since the 2018-19 squad. And with a win Friday afternoon, head coach
Todd May would tie Joseph Friedl (1949-56) for the fourth-most wins in program history at 120.
SIZZLING SECOND HALVES
The Mountain Lions swept Davis & Elkins in the regular season on the strength of stellar second halves. After trailing 35-31 at home in January, CU outscored the Senators 54-38 in the second half. Concord shot 55.6 percent in the second half of the home victory. Harper was 11-for-19 in scoring 25 points at home versus Davis & Elkins. Tolbert tallied 16 of his 20 after halftime. At Davis & Elkins on February 17, the Mountain Lions did themselves one better as they shot 66.7 percent (20-for-30) from the floor in the second half. Leading 38-34 at the start of the second half, Concord began the half on a 13-0 run and maintained a double-digit lead for the final 18 minutes of the game in a 94-80 win. Harper poured in 21 points at D&E. Tolbert went for 19 points and six steals while Laidler (16 points) and Diop (14 points, 10 rebounds) rounded out the double-figure scorers.
THE ONE SPOT
Two of the eight All-MEC First Teamers will be showcased Friday afternoon at the point guard spot in Tolbert and D&E's Sam Rolle. In two games against Davis & Elkins this season, Tolbert averaged 19.5 points, five rebounds and four assists per game while shooting 64.7 percent (11-for-17) from the field and 83.3 percent (15-for-18) from the foul line. Â After scoring 22 points at CU January 13, the Maroon and Gray limited Rolle to eight points on 2-for-12 shooting in the second meeting. Tolbert has made the third-most free throws in the MEC this season (116) and is shooting 84.1 percent from the free-throw stripe. The Cincinnati, Ohio native is 11
th in the league in scoring (13.9). For Rolle, he is 69 points away from 2,000 for his career and has already amassed 500 career assists. Rolle has averaged at least 18 points per game all four years in Elkins, and is third in the MEC in scoring this year (18.1).
DEFENSIVE MINDED
Both Concord and Davis & Elkins are averaging 81 points per game and shooting 45 percent from the floor, but where both teams hang their hats is on the defensive end. Concord (41.1) and D&E (41.9) are the only two teams in the conference holding teams under 42 percent shooting this season. The Mountain Lions are third in the MEC in scoring defense (76.0) while Davis & Elkins is fourth (77.9). Concord is 15-3 this season when holding teams under 45 percent from the floor, and since the beginning of February, the Mountain Lions have held eight of 11 opponents at or under 45 percent shooting. All 15 wins for D&E have come when it holds teams under 45 percent, a record of 15-6.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1- CU is 1-4 this season when it has been outrebounded, but the one win was at Davis & Elkins when the Senators held a 33-31 edge on the boards.
2- Friday will be the second time CU and D&E square off in the MEC Tournament. The only other game was a 107-100 double overtime win in the 2021 first round.
23- Scoring average for Harper in two games versus Davis & Elkins this season.
DAVIS & ELKINS AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 15-13
MEC Record: 10-10
Home Record: 8-5
Away Record: 6-7
Neutral Record: 1-1
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
Tristan Starks (10.5) and Vadim Clanet (10.2) are the only other Senators scoring in double figures. Though scoring 8.5 points per game, Clarens Pierre is sixth in the MEC in rebounding (6.4) and second, behind Diop in the MEC in blocks per game (1.8). Nicolas Silva scored 19 points in 16 minutes off the bench versus Concord in February. D&E is the sixth seed for the second straight year at the MEC Tournament, and pulled an upset of Charleston in last year's quarterfinals.
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