Concord Squares Off with West Virginia State in Road Clash

Concord Stats - West Virginia State Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team looks to shake off a loss to West Liberty when it travels to West Virginia State 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for the final regular-season road game of the year in Mountain East Conference action.

LIVE COVERAGE
The West Virginia State Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live streaming video of the game. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 45-35

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA STATE
November 26, 2024: Concord 90 - West Virginia State 78 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 28, 2024: Concord 90 -West Virginia State 83 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 21, 2023: Concord 73 - West Virginia State 71 (Institute, W.Va.)
February 22, 2023: West Virginia State 90 - Concord 85 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 22, 2022: West Virginia State 85 - Concord 80 (Institute, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 16-8
MEC Record: 13-5
Home Record: 8-3
Home Record: 8-5

1K CLUB
In Saturday's setback, junior guard Kollin Tolbert became the 42^nd player in program history to reach 1,000 points for his career as he got a layup to go in at the 2:07 mark of the first half. Tolbert now has 1,003 points for his career and needs 10 more to begin his ascent up the all-time scoring list at CU as Damien Tunstalle (2009-13) scored 1,013 points. Tolbert needed just 64 games to amass 1,000 points for his career—the quickest in program history to get to 1,000 points since Rob Reed needed just 57 games from 2014-16. Of the 42 members of the 1,000-point club at CU, head coach Todd May has been on the bench—as either an assistant or the head coach—for eight players reaching the milestone (since 2012). Along with Tolbert, the only other active MEC players that are 1,000-point scorers at one school are Sam Rolle (Davis & Elkins) and David Jolinder (Fairmont State).

NEARING THE FINISH LINE
Senior guard Corey Boston's brief, but stout two-year career at CU is nearing its conclusion as the Lafayette, Alabama has two regular-season games remaining plus the MEC Tournament and a potential NCAA Tournament run. Boston's final season in college basketball has been a strong one as he has vaulted up into seventh in the MEC in scoring (16.5). Boston ranks eighth in the MEC in field-goal percentage (47.3) and is also top 10 in assists per game (3.7) and steals per contest (1.5). Additionally, Boston enters Wednesday having tallied 20 or more points in three straight games, including a career-best 26 points at Wheeling last week. And in eight games in the month of February, Boston is averaging 19 points per game while shooting 54.9 percent from the field (56-for-102). He has been in double figures in 19 of 21 games played this year.

ACCESS DENIED
Concord recorded eight blocks Saturday versus West Liberty as junior forward Rene Diop (four) and freshman forward Kraig Gilbert (three) accounted for seven of the eight blocks. It was Diop's ninth game this season with at least three blocks as his 2.4 blocks per game leads the MEC. He is seventh in Division II in blocks per game. Meanwhile, Gilbert is second in the conference and 35^th in the country in blocks per game (1.8). Diop (58) and Gilbert (42) have tallied 100 of Concord's 126 blocks. Diop's 58 blocks are the most in a single season for a Mountain Lion since Ron Ward had 60 swats in the 1988-89 season. Additionally, Gilbert's 42 blocks are fifth most among freshmen in Division II. CU (126) and West Virginia State (116) are the only two teams in the MEC with 100 or more blocks this winter.

CHARITY STRIPE SCORING
Concord and WVSU are the two best teams in the conference at getting to the foul line. West Virginia State averages nearly 30 attempted free throws per game (29.6) while the Mountain Lions shoot 24.5 foul shots per game. In Concord's 90-78 win in November, the two sides combined for 69 free throws. Concord finished 26-for-30 at the charity (86.7 percent) with Tolbert going 7-for-8. Redshirt freshman guard John Gabbert came off the bench and went 6-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch of the game. The Yellow Jackets took 39 foul shots in Athens in November, but were only 61.5 percent (24-for-39) at the free-throw line. The Mountain Lions are second in the MEC in free-throw shooting (76.6) while WVSU is sixth in the conference (72.4). Boston (89.5) and Tolbert (88.8) are second and third in the MEC in foul shooting. Jae Slack leads West Virginia State at 81.7 percent from the charity stripe.

POINTS AND MORE POINTS
In nine of the last 11 games between Concord and West Virginia State, the winner has topped at least 85 points, including CU recording back-to-back games of 90 points—this year's victory along with a 90-83 win last season at home. The Mountain Lions are second in the MEC in points per game (87.7) while WVSU is third (86.4). Concord is on pace for its best offensive season since the 1993-94 team averaged 87.9 points per game. CU is 16^th in Division II while the Yellow Jackets sit 22^nd in the country in points per game. The Maroon and Gray picked up a 73-71 victory in November 2023 at WVSU. Tolbert is averaging 18.3 points per game in his last three games versus the Yellow Jackets. Sophomore guard Georges Archer tallied a career-best 14 points in the November meeting.

3 ON 3
The best three-point shooting team in the MEC goes up against the best three-point defense in the conference. Concord leads the league in three-point shooting at 37.5 percent. WVSU is the only team in the MEC holding teams to less than 32 percent shooting from three-point distance (30.2). Additionally, West Virginia State is holding teams to 8.2 three-pointers per game which is also Concord's average three-pointers made per contest this winter. The Mountain Lions were limited to 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) in November from beyond the arc. CU is 10-2 this year when it makes at least 40 percent of its three-point tries. The Yellow Jackets are 10^th in the MEC in three-pointers per contest at 6.6, and Concord held WVSU to 2-for-9 from three-point range in the first contest this season.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4- Concord is seeking its four straight win over WVSU, a feat it hasn't accomplished since December 2017-Februrary 2019.

6- Season-high blocks for Diop versus West Virginia State in November.

45- Double-digit scoring games for Tolbert in his career.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE   
Overall Record: 14-11
MEC Record: 10-8
Home Record: 8-4
Away Record: 6-7

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
West Virginia State has won four straight games and five of its last six games entering Wednesday night.  Slack is averaging 18.5 points per game which is third in the MEC. Slack scored 10 of his 14 points at the foul line against Concord earlier this season as CU's defense held Slack to 2-for-13 from the field. Jaden Byers was WVSU's leading scorer with 16 points earlier this year. Nate Mims (1.3) and Aymeric Toussaint (1.2) both average more than a block per game.