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ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team wraps up a two-game road trip when it opposes West Virginia Wesleyan inside the Rockefeller Center 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Mountain East Conference game.
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SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 40-36
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
January 9, 2025: Concord 94 - West Virginia Wesleyan 77 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 14, 2024: Concord 83 - West Virginia Wesleyan 63 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 10, 2024: Concord 80 - West Virginia Wesleyan 69 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
February 15, 2023: Concord 82 - West Virginia Wesleyan 64 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 11, 2023: Concord 78 - West Virginia Wesleyan 64 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 13-7
MEC Record: 10-4
Home Record: 7-2
Away Record: 6-5
BRING ON THE CLOSER
The Mountain Lions picked up their sixth straight win with a 69-61 victory at Point Park Saturday afternoon. Concord leaned on junior guard
Kollin Tolbert down the stretch as he finished the game on an individual 10-2 run that covered the last four minutes of the contest. With the late spurt, Tolbert finished with 30 points, his fourth 30-point game of the season. The Cincinnati, Ohio native was 12-for-12 at the foul line against PPU which was the fourth time this season that Tolbert has made double-digit free-throws. Tolbert is 36-for-38 (94.7 percent) at the foul line in the last five games, and  is the only player in the MEC that has made more than 100 foul shots this season (112-for-128/87.5 percent). Furthermore, Tolbert now has 47 clutch-time points this season-defined as scoring under three minutes when the game is within 10 points. Tolbert had 71 clutch-time points last year.
REBOUNDING GUARDS
Against Point Park, CU finished tied in rebounding at 41-41. The Pioneers led the MEC with a rebounding margin of better than +14 entering the game. The battle of the boards was led by Concord's three starting guards of senior Corey, freshman
Josiah Rickards and Tolbert. The trio combined for 23 rebounds in the game. Tolbert added nine rebounds to go with his 30 points. Boston tied his career high with seven rebounds while Rickards added five rebounds. Along with the 26.7 points he is averaging over the last seven games, Tolbert is grabbing 8.5 rebounds per game over that stretch, including at least eight rebounds in six of seven games. And to go with leading the league in scoring (21.0), Tolbert is now sixth in the MEC in rebounding per game (6.6). Since being inserted into the starting lineup February 1, Rickards is pulling down 6.2 boards per game in the last four games.
GETTING STOPS
Concord was only able to shoot 38.3 percent at Point Park, but the Mountain Lions' defense limited the Pioneers to 35.9 percent shooting. Saturday marked the second time that CU won this season when shooting under 40 percent—the other was in November against West Virginia State (39.7 percent). And while Concord is averaging 91.6 points per game during its six-game winning streak, the Maroon and Gray has held three teams under 40 percent in the last six games—Glenville State, Frostburg State and Point Park. The 61 points allowed by Concord was a season low, and the fewest allowed since November 2023 at Salem. CU's field-goal defense of 43.9 percent ranks fifth in the MEC.
SPREAD IT OUT
The Mountain Lions piled up 94 points in a 17-point win over West Virginia Wesleyan January 9 despite no player scoring more than Tolbert's 15 points. Five players finished in double figures with seven players netting at least eight points. Freshman forward
Kraig Gilbert was a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds in his first career game versus WVWC. Junior forward
Ken Sallee came off the bench with 11 points, and Boston tallied 10 points. Concord used a similar balanced effort last year at West Virginia Wesleyan in an 80-69 win. The CU bench nearly outscored the starters last year at WVWC (41-39) as senior forward
Amare Smith (14) and Boston (12) combined for 26 points in 22 minutes each off the bench.
BEAT 'EM ON THE BOARDS
Concord owned a 41-29 advantage in rebounding against West Virginia Wesleyan in January, but in last year's game at Wesleyan's Rockefeller Center, the Maroon and Gray was only able to control the boards, 36-34. Along with Gilbert in January, sophomore forward
Boubacar Djigo had seven rebounds while Tolbert ripped down five boards. CU continues to be the second-best rebounding team in the MEC this season (+6.8 rebounding margin). Meanwhile, the Bobcats are 10th in the conference in rebounding margin (-3.1). Furthermore, the Mountain Lions are second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (13.3) while Wesleyan is the only team in the MEC under 10 offensive rebounds per game (9.0). Junior forward
Rene Diop (2.4) and Gilbert (2.0) are both averaging better than two offensive rebounds per game.
KEEP ROLLING
CU carries a 10-game win streak over West Virginia Wesleyan into Wednesday's matchup that dates back to a February 2020 home win versus the Bobcats. Concord's average winning margin against WVWC in those 10 games is 13.9 points, including the last five by double digits. In his last four games versus West Virginia Wesleyan, Diop is averaging 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game that includes two double-doubles. Boston has scored just under 10 points per game (9.7) in three career games versus WVWC. The Bobcats have held Tolbert in check in three career games as he is only averaging 7.3 points per contest, but Tolbert did pass out a career-best 10 assists last season at home versus Wesleyan. Concord only shot 43.8 percent in last year's road win at WVWC, but held the Bobcats to 42.6 percent.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7- Diop ranks seventh in Division II in blocks per game (2.55).
60.7- Second-half percentage shot by Concord versus WVWC in January, shooting 50.7 overall for the game.
62- Concord (30) and West Virginia Wesleyan (32) combined for 62 free throw attempts in January.
WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 5-16
Home Record: 3-6
Away Record: 2-8
Neutral Record: 0-2
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Wesleyan had won back-to-back games versus Salem and Point Park before consecutive losses to Wheeling and West Liberty entering Wednesday night. Alex Mirhosseini is eighth in the MEC in scoring (16.8). Mirhosseini (57) and his backcourt mate Michael Batchelor (59) have combined for 116 three-pointers—the most among teammates in the conference. The duo ranks second and fourth in the MEC in made triples. WVWC allows the second-most points per game in the league at 84.9
