Concord Rides Hot Streak Into Home Game Against Frostburg State

Concord Stats - Frostburg State Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - Winners of six of seven games since returning from Christmas, the Concord University men's basketball team looks to continue its momentum when it welcomes Frostburg State to the Carter Center 4:00 p.m. Saturday for a Mountain East Conference game.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live streaming video of the game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 6-4

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS FROSTBURG STATE
December 11, 2024: Frostburg State 86 - Concord 82 (Frostburg Md.)
February 3, 2024: Concord 84 - Frostburg State 74 (Frostburg, Md.)
December, 6, 2023: Concord 86 - Frostburg State 65 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 1, 2023: Concord 81 - Frostburg State 60 (Athens, W.Va.)
December 10, 2022: Concord 93 - Frostburg State 82 (Frostburg, Md.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 9-7
MEC Record: 8-4
Home Record: 4-2
Road Record: 5-5

ELITE COMPANY
Concord stayed hot Wednesday by knocking off nationally-ranked, number seven Fairmont State 89-84. It was the second time that CU defeated a top 10 team this season after downing West Liberty 85-77 January 15. Concord is one of two teams in Division II to win two or more games over top 10 teams as an unranked team this year. Wisconsin-Parkside won back-to-back games over Lake Superior State and Ferris State when they were in the top 10. The Mountain Lions are the only team to defeat the top two in the MEC this season—Fairmont State and West Liberty. Furthermore, the last time the Maroon and Gray knocked off two ranked teams in the same season was in 2015-16 when Concord defeated West Liberty twice when they were rated number one nationally. Head coach Todd May tallied his sixth win over a nationally-ranked team with Wednesday's victory—three against West Liberty, two versus Fairmont State and last year's win over Indiana (Pa.).

HEATING UP
The Mountain Lions were able to overcome 22 turnovers versus Fairmont State by shooting 55.4 percent from the floor. It marked the fourth time in the last five games that Concord hit for 50 percent or better from the field. CU has now shot 50 percent or better seven times this season, six of those coming since the December 11 game at Frostburg State. It is the second straight season that the Mountain Lions have shot 50 percent four times in a five-game stretch after accomplishing the feat last February. Individually, junior forward Rene Diop is shooting 65.3 percent (17-for-26) over the last five games. Junior guard Kollin Tolbert has made 61.9 percent (41-of-67) of his shots in the last five. Junior forward Ken Salle (52.9 percent) and senior forward Amare Smith (51.5 percent) are also above 50 percent in the last five games.

SECOND UNIT
A key to Concord's win at Fairmont State was the bench play as the CU reserves scored a season-best 37 points. Sallee netted 14 points while freshman guard Josiah Rickards followed with 13 points—his fourth career game in double figures. Along with his stellar shooting percentage, Sallee is averaging 11.7 points per game. Rickards is adding nine points off the bench in the last five contests. Sophomore forward Boubacar Djigo was very productive in 19 minutes with six points, six rebounds and a block at Fairmont State. Djigo is giving the Mountain Lions 5.4 rebounds off the bench in his last seven games, including a career-best 11 versus Charleston January 22. Concord's bench is averaging 22.5 points per game this season, and contributing to 26 percent of the overall scoring.

TOP TWO
Saturday's matchup with Frostburg State features the top two scorers in the MEC in Tolbert and FSU's Jaden Baker. Tolbert is second in the conference at 19.9 points per game, and has netted an average of 20.5 points per game over the last seven contests. In addition to his overall shooting percentage, Tolbert is hitting 59.2 percent from three-point range in the last seven games. And in the last seven games, the Cincinnati, Ohio native has had two perfect games at the charity stripe—10-for-10 versus West Virginia Wesleyan and 11-of-11 at Fairmont State. Baker is netting 20.1 points per game which leads the league. Baker has six games of at least 25 points this season, including a 32-point outburst in an upset win over West Liberty.  Tolbert had 17 points at Frostburg State in December while Baker recorded a game-best 28 points.

BREAKOUT NIGHT
Concord saw a five-game win streak versus Frostburg State get snapped in December in the 86-82 defeat. However, freshman forward Kraig Gilbert had his best game in the Maroon and Gray against the Bobcats. The Grove City, Ohio native tallied his second career double-double with a career-best 20 points to go with a career-high 11 rebounds. Gilbert was 7-for-10 from the floor versus FSU. Senior guard Corey Boston threw in a then career-best 19 points which kickstarted a run of five games where Boston scored an average of 18 points per game, including back-to-back 20-point games at the end of that particular stretch. Along with Gilbert (20), Boston (19), Tolbert (17), Smith also scored in double figures at Frostburg State by netting 12 points in just 19 minutes of action.

LOCK 'EM DOWN
With Frostburg State already tripling its win total from last year, the Bobcats have not been a great offensive team this season. FSU is 11^th in the MEC in both field-goal percentage (40.1) and three-point percentage (30.5). When CU lost to the Bobcats earlier this season, Frostburg State shot 45.1 percent from the floor. FSU is 7-0 this year when it shoots 40 percent or better from the field. Meanwhile, the Concord defense is 7-0 when it holds the opposition under 45 percent shooting. CU is fifth in the MEC in opponent field-goal percentage (44.9). From three-point range, the Maroon and Gray only gives up 6.6 three-pointers per game. For Frostburg State, the Bobcats are 7-3 this season when they make seven or more three-pointers. But, FSU comes to Athens having shot less than 30 percent from three-point distance in consecutive games, both losses.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7- Three-pointers made by Tolbert in his last home games versus Charleston—the most for any CU player since Matt Weir made seven at Notre Dame in December 2021.

50- Percentage shot by Concord (29-for-58) at Frostburg State in December

90.9- Free-throw percentage (20-22) at Fairmont State—the second time Concord has shot 90 percent or better at the foul line this season.

FROSTBURG STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 9-10
MEC Record: 6-6
Home Record: 5-5
Away Record: 405

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Baker, a transfer from Bentley, has been paired with Koby Baptiste who has upped his production from 8.5 points per game last year to 13 points per game this season. Baptiste is also top five in the MEC in rebounds (8.7 per game). Baptiste threw in 26 points against Concord in December. JayShaun Freeman is adding 10.2 points per game while shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range. Chase Whippen had 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks against CU in the first meeting.