FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team rolled up 58 points in the second half and took down number eighth nationally-ranked Fairmont State 95-87 Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at Joe Retton Arena.
Even though CU (7-3, 5-0 MEC) shot better than 48 percent from the field in the first half, and canned seven three-pointers, the Mountain Lions were still down 41-37 at halftime. Additionally, Concord only led for a total of 24 seconds in the first half as sophomore guard
Brendan Hoffman connected on a three-pointer at the 13:23 mark to push the Maroon and Gray up 14-12. FSU (8-3, 4-1 MEC) answered with its own triple on the next trip down the floor.
Out of the locker room, the teams traded the lead three times in the first 2:30. The Mountain Lions hit the first of three straight three-pointers as junior forward
Anfernee Hanna gave CU a 45-43 edge at the 18:30 mark. Sophomore forward
Kraig Gilbert pushed the lead to 51-45 with his own triple at the 16:59 mark.
FSU answered an 11-1 run over the next four-plus minutes to jump ahead 56-52. The advantage remained with the Fighting Falcons until Concord tied the game back at 60-60. Fairmont State had another mini spurt with back-to-back three-pointers to take a 68-62 edge.
However, it was CU that had the game-deciding run. Trailing by a half dozen, the Mountain Lions ripped off a 13-4 spurt that ended when Hanna completed a three-point play at the 4:45 mark of the second half. Concord held onto the lead the rest of the way, and perhaps the most critical shot of the game came from Hoffman as he buried a corner three-pointer at the end of the shot clock to restore a five-point lead, 84-79, with 1:23 remaining.
CU went 11-for-12 at the free-throw line over the final 65 seconds of the game to secure its second straight win over Fighting Falcons when FSU has been ranked inside the top 10 in the National Top 25 Poll.
The Mountain Lions shot 47.5 percent (29-for-61) from the floor and hit a season-high 13 three-pointers while shooting 52 percent (13-for-25) from the three-point range.
Hanna netted 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Junior forward
Boubacar Djigo went for 22 points and 11 rebounds—his seventh double-double of the season. Hoffman recorded a season-best 16 points, including three-pointers. Gilbert matched Hoffman in three-pointers made, scoring 15 points. Freshman guard
Micah Young made it five players with double figures, finishing with 14 points.
Concord is back in action for an exhibition at Division I Akron 7:00 p.m. December 29. The next regular-season contest is January 3 at home versus Salem.
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