Concord Seeks Tenth Consecutive Win in Showdown with Nationally-Ranked West Liberty

Concord Stats - West Liberty Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team puts a nine-game win streak up against nationally-ranked, eighth-rated West Liberty at the Carter Center 4:00 p.m. Saturday in a Mountain East Conference game.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live video of Saturday's game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: West Liberty leads 45-25

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST LIBERTY
January 15, 2025: Concord 85 - #10 West Liberty 77 (West Liberty, W.Va.)
March 9, 2024: #13 West Liberty 77 - Concord 71 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 24, 2024: #20 West Liberty 89 - Concord 76 (West Liberty, W.Va.)
January 17, 2024: #20 West Liberty 91 - Concord 79 (Athens, W.Va.)
March 3, 2023: #5 West Liberty 96 - Concord 72 (Wheeling, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 16-7
MEC Record: 13-4
Home Record: 8-2
Away Record: 8-5

RARE AIR
The Mountain Lions improved to 16-7 this season with their ninth straight win in a 93-84 victory at Wheeling Wednesday night. CU leaned on senior guard Corey Boston and junior guard Kollin Tolbert. Both players netted 26 points with Boston recording a career high in points. The Lafayette, Alabama native moved up from 10^th to eighth in the MEC in scoring (16.7) while Tolbert continues to lead the league in scoring (21.8 points per game). The 38.5 points per game that the Concord backcourt is combining for is the most for a Mountain Lion duo since Tommy Bolte and Jair Rodgers scored more than 49 points per game in 2018-19. Boston and Tolbert are the only set of teammates in the MEC that rank in the top 10 in scoring. Tolbert is also fourth in the MEC field-goal percentage (51.9) while Boston is eighth (46.8). Boston has shot 50 percent or better in five of the last six games. Additionally, Tolbert is five points away from being the 42^nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points.

GET EASY ONES
Led by Boston and Tolbert, the Mountain Lions shot 51.5 percent against Wheeling Wednesday night. Tolbert has shot 50 percent or better in 11 of the last 12 games and 15 of 23 contests overall this winter. Concord shot 50 percent for the 11^th time this year which is the most in the MEC—the next closest is Charleston and Fairmont State both with nine. The effort at Wheeling was led by the Maroon and Gray tying its season high with 54 points in the paint. All four field goals for junior forward Rene Diop came in the paint Wednesday night as he shot 4-for-5 around the rim in scoring 11 points. Tolbert made eight of his nine shots in the paint as he shot 61.5 percent (8-for-13) in the lane. And freshman guard Josiah Rickards was efficient in the paint as he was 4-for-5 in the lane and went 4-of-6 overall for his 10 points.

MONUMENTAL SHOWDOWN
CU is after a season sweep of West Liberty Saturday afternoon after scoring an 85-77 victory over the Hilltoppers January 15 at WLU's ASRC. West Liberty was ranked 10^th in Division II when the Mountain Lions led for more than 37 minutes in the victory. Concord's win in January was just the second home loss in the last 44 games for the Hilltoppers. And on Saturday, one team will leave the Carter Center with a double-digit win streak still intact. Concord has the sixth longest-active win streak in Division II at nine games while West Liberty has not lost since the defeat by CU, winning 10 straight games. No Concord team has defeated the Hilltoppers twice in the same season since the 2015-16 squad, winning at the Carter Center in January 2016 and again in the MEC Tournament Semifinals.

REBOUNDS MATTER
Concord is one of the top-20 best rebounding teams in the Division II as the Maroon and Gray nearly outrebounds the opposition by an average of seven rebounds per game (+6.9)—17^th in Division II. In January's win at West Liberty, Concord held a 42-25 rebounding advantage. West Liberty has the worst rebounding margin in the MEC at -5.0. Concord has outrebounded the opposition in 17 of 23 games this year while West Liberty has only been on top of the boards in seven of 25 games this season. Individually, Tolbert is sixth in the MEC in rebounding (6.7) while Diop is 15^th (6.0). Freshman forward Kraig Gilbert is 18^th (5.7) in rebounding in the conference. West Liberty does not have a player in the top 25 of the MEC in rebounding—the only team in the league without one. JJ Harper leads WLU in rebounding (4.6).

HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE
In scoring 85 points against the Hilltoppers, Concord was three points below its season average in scoring, but held West Liberty to 20 points below its scoring average for the year.  WLU is fourth in Division II in scoring 97.6 points per game. CU's 87.8 points per game is tied for 16^th in the country. The Hilltoppers take 73 shots per game on average, but in the win at WLU the Maroon and Gray held West Liberty to 66 shots. Meanwhile, Concord hit on 52.5 percent (31-59) from the field. Boston scored was 9-for-12 in scoring 22 points. Tolbert threw in 17 points while Diop scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Over his last four games versus WLU, Diop is averaging 15 points per game while shooting 82.7 percent (24-for-29) from the field. Concord is 10-1 this year when holding the opponent under 80 points.

THE THREE-POINT LINE
Per the normal, West Liberty excels in hitting the three-point shot as it makes 11.3 triples per game which ranks third in Division II. But unlike past years, the Hilltoppers have not nearly been as efficient from beyond the arc this season. WLU's 35.6 percent three-point shooting is on pace to be the lowest for the program since the 2004-05 season. CU is giving up 35.2 percent from three-point range this season, but Concord held the Hilltoppers to 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc in the January win. The Mountain Lions have only given up double-digit made three-pointers four time this season. Kameron Tinsley and Daniel Autrey lead WLU with 46 made three-pointers, but seven different players have at least 20 triples this season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4- Made three-pointers by CU at West Liberty, 4-for-8, were the fewest made triples in a Concord win since February 2018 in a win over Urbana.

16- Concord is 16-1 in the month of February over the last two seasons.

48- Points in the paint by Concord at West Liberty.

WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 22-3
MEC Record: 16-2
Home Record: 12-1
Away Record: 9-1
Neutral Record: 1-1

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
Former Mountain Lion JJ Harper makes his return to the Carter Center Saturday afternoon. A two-time All-MEC player, Harper is 10^th in the MEC in scoring at 15.5 points per game. Over his two-year Concord career, Harper averaged 14 points and five rebounds per game. The top two shooting teams in the MEC match up Saturday. Concord leads the MEC at 47.7 percent shooting while West Liberty is hitting 47.6 percent of its shots. The Hilltoppers shoot 56.8 percent on two-point attempts. Kyler D'Augustino averages 16.8 points per game, but was held to 3-for-14 shooting and six points by Concord.