Concord Seeks Upset in MEC Semifinals Against West Liberty

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WHEELING, W.Va. - After a 92-84 win over West Virginia State in the MEC Tournament Quarterfinals late Friday evening, the Concord University men's basketball team will have a quick turnaround when it faces top seed and nationally-ranked, number five West Liberty in the MEC Semifinals 6:00 p.m. Saturday at WesBanco Areana in Wheeling, West Virginia.

LIVE COVERAGE
WV MetroNews and the Mountain East Conference will have live streaming coverage of the game. The MEC TV link is free to viewer while the MetroNews TV access require a no-cost login. The Mountain East Conference will have live statistics of the game. 

Live Stats
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SERIES HISTORY: West Liberty leads 46-25

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST LIBERTY
February 22, 2025: #8 West Liberty 102 - Concord 85 (Athens, W.Va.)
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.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 17-10
MEC Record: 13-7
Home Record: 8-4
Away Record: 8-6
Neutral Record: 1-0 

SIX-PACK SCORING
Concord got past West Virginia State with its scoring balance as six Mountain Lions finished in double figures. Freshman guard Josiah Rickards had a strong second half as he scored 14 of his career-high 19 points after halftime to lead the way. Senior guard Corey Boston netted double figures for the 21^st time this year—tied for the team lead—as he poured in 17 points. Freshman forward Kraig Gilbert matched his career best with three made three-pointers on his way to 15 points to go with 10 rebounds for his third career double-double. Redshirt freshman guard Brendan Hoffman came off the bench to score in double figures for the third straight game, tallying 14 points. Junior forward Ken Sallee posted 12 points, and sophomore forward Boubacar Djigo was perfect in shooting (3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-4 at the foul line) in scoring 10 points in 19 minutes in the bench. Friday night marked the second time this year CU had six players finish with 10 or more points.

YOUNG CATS
The freshmen duo of Gilbert and Rickards along with redshirt freshman Hoffman accounted for 52 percent of Concord's scoring in the their MEC Tournament debut. Additionally, of the nine players that head coach Todd May put on the floor Friday night six were playing in their first career MEC Tournament game. Only sophomore guard Georges Archer, Boston and junior forward Rene Diop played in the conference postseason last season or in 2023. Diop played in his fifth career MEC Tournament game Friday night. Archer played a combined 31 minutes in two games last year at the MEC Tournament. And Boston saw 24 minutes at the 2024 conference tournament in a reserve role. Redshirt freshman guard John Gabbert came off the bench to tie his career high in minutes played with 10 versus West Virginia State.

LATE SEASON SUCCESS
With Friday's win, Concord recorded a victory at the MEC Tournament for the eighth time in the last 10 years. The Mountain Lions advanced to the MEC Semifinals for the second straight year and the third time in the last seven years. The only years that CU has not won at least one MEC Tournament game under Coach May was in 2017 and 2022. The ninth-year head coach in Athens won his seventh conference postseason game Friday night which ties him for fourth on the MEC Tournament wins list with former West Liberty coach and current Nova Southeastern head coach Jim Crutchfield. Traditionally under May, the Mountain Lions have played their best basketball late in the season. CU 17-4 in the months of February and March the last two seasons.

CROSSING PATHS AGAIN
Saturday night marks the seventh time in 12 years that Concord and West Liberty face each other in the MEC Tournament—the most played matchup in the MEC Tournament. The next closest MEC Tournament matchup is Fairmont State and West Liberty five times. CU is 1-5 in the previous six meetings. The MEC Semifinal showdown is the third consecutive season the Mountain Lions and Hilltoppers square off at WesBanco Arena. In last year's semifinal round, Concord held a 34-25 lead at halftime, but was unable to hold off West Liberty as WLU won 77-71. Junior guard Kollin Tolbert had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the game. CU's lone MEC Tournament win versus West Liberty came in 2016 as a four seed—the same seed for the Maroon and Gray as this year's squad. Concord is 4-0 all-time at the MEC Tournament as a four seed.

GLASS SMASH
Throughout the winter, Concord has been one of the best rebounding teams in the MEC. Ahead of Saturday night, the Mountain Lions are second in the conference in rebounding margin at 6.9 which also ranks 15^th in Division II. After outrebounding West Virginia State 44-42, CU has beat its opponent on the glass in 20 games this season. Meanwhile, WLU has only outrebounded teams in nine games this year, and has the worst rebounding margin in the conference at -5.0. Concord dominated the glass in last year's tournament by outboarding the Hilltoppers, 47-32. CU was +17 (42-45) on the glass at West Liberty in a January win. And two weeks ago in Athens, the Mountain Lions held a 46-37 rebounding edge. The Maroon and Gray has four players in the top 20 of the MEC in rebounding: Tolbert (6.6), Gilbert (6.1), Diop (5.9) and Djigo (5.5). West Liberty is the only team in the MEC without a player in the top 25 of rebounding in the league.

MAKINGS OF AN UPSET
This year's Mountain Lions are attempting to become the first CU team to defeat West Liberty twice in a season since the 2015-16 squad picked off the Hilltoppers in the regular season then downed WLU in the MEC Semifinals. In January, Concord picked up its first road win at West Liberty since the late 1990s with an 85-77 victory over then 10^th-rated Hiltoppers. In addition to the lopsided rebounding margin, Concord shot 52.5 percent from the field as it tallied 48 points in the paint. Boston led the way with 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Tolbert netted 17 points and Diop threw in 15 points. In his last three regular season games versus West Liberty, Diop is averaging 17.3 points per game, including throwing in a career-best 26 points at WLU in February 2024. The paint will be crucial for CU as 51.7 percent (164 of 317) of its scoring in the last four games versus West Liberty has come in the lane.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Concord is 3-0 in Ohio County this season with wins over Wheeling, West Liberty and neutral-site game against West Virginia State.

10- The Mountain Lions are 10-1 when holding the opponent under 80 point this season.

88.4- Points per game for CU this season, ranking 14^th in Division II. Also the best offensive season since 2005-06.

WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 26-3
MEC Record: 18-2
Home Record: 14-1
Road Record: 10-1
Neutral Record: 2-1

HILLTOPPERS AT A GLANCE
West Liberty advanced to its 12^th straight MEC Semifinal with a 102-77 victory over Davis & Elkins Points per game for CU this season, ranking 14^th in Division II. Also the best offensive season since 2005-06.Friday. The Hilltoppers connected on 16 three-pointers, including a 7-for-10 effort from Daniel Autrey. The Hilltoppers are the second-highest team in Division II (102.0 points per game). Kyler D'Augustino (17.1) and JJ Harper (15.8) are both top 10 in the MEC in scoring and were All-MEC First Team selections. Kameron Tinsley scored a team-best 20 points off the bench versus CU two weeks ago.