Concord Rounds Out Non-Conference Slate Versus Salem

Concord Stats - Salem Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team tests its four-game win streak when it plays its final non-conference game of the season, a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday tipoff against Salem at the Carter Center.

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

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 45-38

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS SALEM
December 7, 2024: Concord 82 - Salem 64 (Salem, W.Va.)
February 10, 2024: Concord 100 - Salem 92 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 29, 2023: Concord 72 - Salem 56 (Salem, W.Va.)
January 16, 2023: Salem 84 - Concord 68 (Salem, W.Va.)
December 9, 2018: Concord 93 - Salem 76 (Salem, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 11-7
MEC Record: 9-4
Home Record: 5-2
Away Record: 5-5

SIX PACK SCORING
In CU's 104-95 win over Bluefield State Monday night, the Mountain Lions had six players finish in double figures. While junior guard Kollin Tolbert netted 32 points—the third highest total of his career—five other Concord players finished between 10 and 16 points in the contest. Senior guard Corey Boston recorded his 13 double-digit scoring game of the season with 16 points to go with a team-best five assists. Freshman guard Josiah Rickards finished a point off his career high with 15 points as he added a career-best seven rebounds. Junior forward Rene Diop was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in netting 12 points, and freshman forward Kraig Gilbert made two three-pointers as part of his 12 points. Junior forward Ken Sallee came off the bench with 10 points.  Monday night was the first time CU had six double-figure scorers this season.

THREAT OF THREE
The Mountain Lions have not been reliant on the three-point shot this season, but have been opportunistic from three-point distance. CU is making 8.4 three-pointers per game which is up from last year's average of 6.0 per contest. However, Concord has raised its shooting percentage from beyond the arc from 31.4 percent last year to 38.5 percent this winter—the highest in the Mountain East Conference and 21^st in Division II. Through the first nine games of the year, Concord only made double-digit three-pointers once, but in the last nine games the Maroon and Gray has made 10 or more three-pointers four times. And since the start of 2025, Concord has shot 40 percent or better from three-point distance seven times, including in four straight games. In the last six games, Tolbert is shooting 61.1 percent from three-point range (22-for-38). Sallee is 10-for-23 (43.4 percent) from beyond the arc in his last four games.

SECOND CHANCES
Concord's victory over Bluefield State was spurred by the effort on the glass and the ability to create second chances from offensive rebounding. The Mountain Lions had a 46-30 rebounding advantage in the game as they grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, leading to tying a season high of 20 second-chance points. Rickards and sophomore forward Boubacar Djigo each had three offensive rebounds with two of Djio's boards leading to him directly scoring his four points in the game. Of the nine players the Maroon and Gray stuck on the floor versus Bluefield State, seven had at least one offensive rebound. CU outscored the Big Blues 20-9 in second-chance points which helped neutralize Concord being outscored 24-13 in points off turnovers. CU is averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds per game—third in the MEC.

BIG MAN BOARDS
One of three games that Concord has scored 20 second-chance points came in an 82-64 win at Salem December 7. Diop and Gilbert each had double-doubles in the game as they helped the Mountain Lions outrebound SU 49-26—the +23 rebounding margin for CU is the largest this season. Diop finished with 11 rebounds (six offensive) to go with 10 points. Gilbert notched his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 6-for-9 from the field. Djigo added four rebounds off the bench as Concord's three big men nearly outboarded Salem by themselves, 26-25. CU's rebounding margin of 6.8 is second in the MEC and 16^th in Division II. Individually, Diop is 13^th in the MEC in rebounding (6.1), just behind Tolbert who is 12^th at 6.3 rebounds per game.  

DEFEND 'EM
CU held Salem to 43 percent shooting in the December win for the Mountain Lions. It is one of seven times this winter that Concord has limited an opponent to less than 45 percent from the floor—all wins for the Maroon and Gray. Concord is fifth in the conference in opponent field-goal percentage (44.4). Additionally, the Mountain Lions held Salem to 18.2 percent from three-point range (4-of-22) which is the lowest three-point percentage allowed by CU this winter and also the lowest percentage shot by the Tigers from three-point distance this year. SU had made at least 30 percent of its three-point tries in 17 of 20 games. Last season, Salem hit for nearly 50 percent (30-for-61) against Concord at the Carter Center in a 100-92 win for the Mountain Lions.

ON THE LINE
Concord was able to overcome a hot shooting day by Salem in Athens last February by being clutch at the foul line. Salem took one more foul shot at CU than the Mountain Lions (40-39). However, Concord made a 2023-24 season-high 31 free throws. Tolbert was 10-of-11 at the charity stripe against the Tigers last year at home as part of his 19 points. The Cincinnati, Ohio native is coming off an 11-of-11 performance at the free-throw line versus Bluefield State. As has been the case for much of the season, Concord is second in the MEC in free throws attempted per game (24.7) while the Maroon and Gray hits for 76.2 percent at the foul line, third in the conference. While Salem has been solid at the free-throw stripe (71.7 percent), the Tigers are only averaging 19.0 free throw attempts per contest.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8- Average number of rebounds for Diop in his last three games versus Salem.

11- CU has 11 wins (11-3 overall) over the last three seasons when it makes 10 or more three-pointers, including 5-0 this year.

139- With his recent scoring outbursts, Tolbert is now just 139 points away from 1,000 for his career.

SALEM AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 5-15
Home Record: 2-7
Away Record: 1-7
Neutral Record: 2-1

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Salem arrives in Athens Wednesday night having lost seven of its last eight games—that's after the Tigers finished 2024 by winning three of four. Daquan Coleman leads five Tigers in double figures as he nets 13.2 points per game. Jalen Barnes (12.7), Kevin Constant (12.5), Tyree Davis (11.5) and DJ Harrell are also averaging (10.5) are also in double figures. Scoring has not been the problem for SU, however, the Tigers are getting out rebounded by nearly nine boards a game.