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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - Fresh off an 85-77 win over West Liberty Wednesday night, the Concord University men's basketball team returns to the Carter Center to face Wheeling 4:00 p.m. Saturday in a Mountain East Conference game.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live video of the game.
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SERIES HISTORY: Wheeling leads 34-23
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WHEELING
February 21, 2024: Concord 98 - Wheeling 70 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 20, 2024: Concord 94 - Wheeling 88 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 8, 2023: Concord 101 - Wheeling 98 (OT) (Athens, W.Va.)
January 7, 2023: Concord 81 - Wheeling 76 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 9, 2022: Wheeling 82 - Concord 80 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
HISTORICAL NIGHT
Wednesday night's win over West Liberty was one for the record books. For starters, the Mountain Lions knocked off the tenth-ranked team in Division II with the victory. It marked the third straight season that CU has collected at least one win over a nationally-ranked team and the fourth time in five years the feat has been accomplished. Concord picked up its first win at West Liberty since the 1997-98 season—the Maroon and Gray had not won at WLU in its last 19 trips. Head coach
Todd May earned his 126
th career win on the Concord sidelines which moved him into third place on the program's all-time wins list with only Steve Cox (336) and Don Christie (171) ahead of him. Also in the win, junior forward
Rene Diop became the fifth player in program history with 100 career blocks as he recorded at least one block for the 12
th consecutive game.
EASY BUCKETS
The Mountain Lions tied their regulation season high for points in the paint as they netted 48 points in the painted area at West Liberty Wednesday night. Concord was able to get into the paint with ease as 44 of CU's 59 shot attempts came in the paint where the Maroon and Gray hit for 55 percent (24-for-44) in the paint on their way to shooting 52.5 percent (31-for-59) for the game. Of the five players that scored in double figures at West Liberty, senior guard
Corey Boston (22), senior forward
Amare Smith (17), junior guard
Kollin Tolbert (17), Diop (15) and freshman guard
Josiah Rickards (10), all shot at least 50 percent from the floor. Boston (9-of-12) and Diop (6-of-8) both made 75 percent of their shots in the game. Over his last three games, Boston is shooting 55.8 percent (19-of-34) from the field.
SMASH THE GLASS
Another significant factor in CU's win at West Liberty was the one-sided rebounding margin that Concord recorded in outrebounding the Hilltoppers, 42-25. The Mountain Lions, the second-best rebounding team in the MEC, took advantage of WLU being the worst rebounding team in the conference. Five different Concord players had at least four boards in the game with no one having more than eight as Tolbert led the way. Diop collected seven rebounds while Boston was one off his career high with six rebounds. Sophomore guard
Georges Archer added a season-best four rebounds off the bench while sophomore forward
Boubacar Djigo also grabbed four rebounds. The Mountain Lions nearly had more offensive rebounds (14) than West Liberty had defensive rebounds (16) in the game. The +17 margin on the glass was the Maroon and Gray's second-best rebounding margin of the season.
FULL 40
Six of the last eight meetings between Concord and Wheeling have been decided by eight points or less with the two outliers being a 101-75 CU win in February 2020 and a 98-70 victory for the Mountain Lions inside the Carter Center last February. The Mountain Lions are 6-2 over their last eight games versus WU. In last year's home win over the Cardinals, CU took control of the game in the middle portion of the first half in scoring 57 points in the first 20 minutes of the game. Diop was an efficient 8-for-9 from the field as he netted 16 points. Six different players finished in double figures. Graduate guard
Jordan Wooden scored 13 points, Tolbert hit for 11 points to go with six assists and junior forward
Ayden Ince added 10 points. Last year's game at Wheeling featured 14 ties and 11 lead changes in Concord's 94-88 victory.
50 PERCENT
Paced by Diop, the Mountain Lions shot better than 50 percent in both games last year against Wheeling. Diop was 7-of-10 on the road. Smith netted 13 points as he shot 4-for-6 at Wheeling. Meanwhile, Archer and Djigo combined to go 4-of-6 from the floor. Along with Diop at home, Tolbert and Boston were both 3-for-6 from the field in combining for 18 points. In both games last year, the Mountain Lions were 34-for-67 versus Wheeling in shooting 50.7 percent. CU is coming off its second-highest field goal percentage this season in the display at West Liberty Wednesday night. The only better shooting effort for Concord this winter was when it made 58 percent of its shot at Charleston in late November.
FREE FOR A REASON
The top two foul shooting teams in the MEC meet Saturday as Wheeling paces the conference with a 79.0 percent showing at the line this season. The Mountain Lions check in at 78.0 percent from the foul line as a team. Wheeling is 14
th nationally in free-throw percentage with Concord 16
th. However, Wheeling only takes an average of 20.9 free throws per game while CU is attempting nearly 26 foul shots, 25.8, per game which ranks in a tie for 10
th in Division II. Concord has attempted at least 20 foul shots in all but one game this season, and has made 80 percent or better at the line in four straight games. Boston leads the MEC in free-throw percentage (90 percent). WU's Sean Ealy is second at 89.7 percent. Tolbert ranks fourth in the MEC in foul shooting (86.1 percent) and Smith is ninth (80 percent).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9- Concord had lost nine consecutive games against West Liberty before downing the Hilltoppers.
52- Paint points for CU at home versus Wheeling last season.
79- Field-goal percentage for Diop in two games against Wheeling last winter, going 15-for-19.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 6-9
MEC Record: 1-7
Home Record: 5-4
Away Record: 0-4
Neutral Record: 1-1
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Ealy is sixth in the MEC in scoring per game at 16.6 points. He is complemented by Tee Harris (11.7 points) and Will Gabbert (11.1 points). SJ Hutchinson is just missing double figures at 9.9 points per game. Harris adds 7.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. Alex Smith is Wheeling's leading rebounder at 8.7 per game which also ranks fourth in the MEC.
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