ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team fell 87-70 to Charleston Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.
Tied at 58-58 with just over 12 minutes left to play, CU (7-7, 6-4 MEC) went cold over the next seven minutes as Charleston (11-5, 8-2 MEC) took a 75-60 lead.
The Mountain Lions only got as close as 77-65 in the closing minutes of the game as Charleston recorded the 17-point win.
UC ran out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2:25 of the game. However, Concord slowly chipped away and evened the game at 18-18 on a three-pointer from freshman guard
Josiah Rickards with 11:39 remaining until halftime.
Once again, Charleston opened up a multiple possession margin as it went up 28-21 at the 7:37 mark. Then, junior guard
Kollin Tolbert willed Concord on a 16-8 scoring run as he netted 13 of his game-best 41 points during the spurt. A Rickards' jumper capped the run as CU went up 37-36 with 1:57 left.
Both teams went back-and-forth and finished the first 20 minutes square at 40-40.
With the teams still jockeying to start the second half, Tolbert put on another scoring display as he buried three consecutive three-pointers to give Concord a 52-50 edge at the 15:48 mark.
Another two by Tolbert was followed by consecutive field goals from junior forward
Ken Sallee, but the 58-54 lead was with 13:19 left was the final time the Mountain Lions would lead in the game.
Tolbert's 41 points was highlighted by a 7-of-10 showing from three-point range. He finished the game 15-of-21 from the floor and 4-for-5 at the foul line. Tolbert was two rebounds shy of a double-double as well.
Tolbert's 40-point game is the 13
th in program history, and is tied for the ninth highest-scoring game at Concord all-time. Earlier this season, Tolbert netted 58 points at UC, the second-most points by an individual in Concord men's basketball program history.
Rickards tallied nine points in the game while sophomore forward
Boubacar Djigo pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds to go with a pair of blocks.
The Mountain Lions owned the boards with a 41-32 edge, but was unable to overcome Charleston's 60-percent shooting night.
CU returns to the road to face Glenville State 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
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