ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team held Davis & Elkins to 35.6 percent shooting as it ran its win streak to eight games in an 81-66 victory Saturday afternoon at the Carter Center.
After D&E (9-15, 5-11 MEC) shot 40.5 percent in the first half, Concord (15-7, 12-4 MEC) limited the Senators to 30.5 percent shooting in the second half and 31 points after the intermission.
Trailing 30-28 with 4:37 left in the first half, Concord fired off a 12-5 run to end the opening 20 minutes and never gave the lead back.
Freshman guard
Josiah Rickards started the run with a right wing three-pointer to push the Mountain Lions ahead 31-30. D&E briefly tied the game at 31-31, but junior forward
Rene Diop flushed down a dunk at the 3:41 mark. Senior guard
Corey Boston netted six of the final seven CU points of the first half as Concord took a 40-35 lead into halftime.
Out of the locker room, D&E cut the margin to 46-42 with 15:44 remaining, however, the Maroon and Gray held the Senators to five points over the next seven minutes as it opened up a 64-47 lead with 8:58 left after a Boston three-pointer.
Another Boston bucket took the lead to 20 points, 70-50, with 6:54 left, and a basket from sophomore forward
Boubacar Djigo gave Concord its largest lead of the game at 22 points, 72-50, a minute later.
D&E never got closer than the final margin of 15 points over the final six minutes of the contest.
Concord opened the game with a 12-6 lead and kept the advantage until Davis & Elkins grabbed a 23-21 edge with 8:27 remaining in the first half. Neither team sustained momentum until CU's surge before.
Boston shined on his Senior Day with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Junior guard
Kollin Tolbert shot an even 50 percent, 7-for-14, on his way to netting 20 points. He added nine rebounds (five offensive) and a team-best four assists.
Rickards scored all 10 of his points in the first half. Diop just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds—all defensive. Freshman forward
Kraig Gilbert only scored six points, but grabbed six rebounds and recorded four blocks.
Concord shot 44.4 percent for the game and held a 46-43 edge in rebounding.
The Mountain Lions held the lead for 33 minutes in the game.
CU visits Wheeling 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in an MEC tilt.
