Concord Uses Big Second Half to Defeat Frostburg State, 97-83

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team exploded in the second half for 56 points as it rolled past Frostburg State, 97-83, Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference contest inside the Carter Center.

Down 43-41 at halftime, the Mountain Lions (5-3, 3-0 MEC) throttled down on FSU (3-5, 1-2 MEC) out of the locker room. Concord went on a 13-4 run with sophomore forward Kraig Gilbert contributing seven points.

After the teams traded buckets, CU took off with the score tied at 58-58. Sophomore guard Cole Lambert jumpstarted a 14-3 run with a three-pointer. Sophomore guard Brendan Hoffman and freshman guard Micah Young capped the spurt with consecutive three-pointers.

The run extended out to 22-4 as CU held Frostburg State scoreless for 5:12 as the lead went to 18 points, 80-62, with 6:26 after a triple from junior guard Khamani Wertz.

Five consecutive points from sophomore guard Josiah Rickards upped the lead to 22 points, 89-67, with 4:26 remaining as Concord coasted to a 14-point win.

CU only led for 25 seconds of the first half as it never got down more than five points, but was unable to cool off the Bobcats who shot 47 percent in the first half and made five three-pointers.

The 56 points for the Mountain Lions were a season high in any half.

Concord shot 53 percent or better in each half. CU hit on 53.3 percent (16-for-30) of its shots in the first half. The Maroon and Gray hit 22 shots and converted on 55 percent (22-for-40) of their shots in the second half.

The Mountain Lions shot 54.3 percent for the game as they locked down Frostburg State in the second half, holding FSU to 42.4 percent after halftime.

Junior forward Anfernee Hanna and his career-high 25 points led four Concord players in double figures. Hanna shot 9-for-14 from the floor. Gilbert threw in 18 points and five assists. Young came off the bench to net 17 points for the second straight game. Junior forward Boubacar Djigo went for his sixth double-double this season, finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

CU handed out 22 assists on 38 made shots—the first 20-assist game since last season at home versus Frostburg State. Gilbert and Wertz each had five assists while Rickards threw in three assists.

Nine different players had at least one assist for Concord.

The Mountain Lions also had a lopsided advantage of 48-26 in the rebounding battle.