CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team was defeated 102-91 at Charleston Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game at the Wehrle Innovation Center.
The Mountain Lions (10-6, 7-3 MEC) erased an 18-point first-half deficit and held a 72-69 lead with 7:32 remaining in the contest, but was unable to close out Charleston (10-6, 6-4 MEC).
Still down 47-36 at halftime, Concord went to work on the deficit. Junior guard
Khamani Wertz opened the second half with a three-pointer. Charleston upped the advantage to 12 points, 58-46, with 16:05 remaining. The Mountain Lions slowly chipped away at the margin as a three-pointer from sophomore guard
Brendan Hoffman and a stickback from junior forward
Boubacar Djigo capped a 15-5 run at the 12:07 mark.
The Golden Eagles remained in the lead until a pair of foul shots from junior forward
Anfernee Hanna tied the game at 67-67. Charleston regained the lead on the next trip, but Djigo and Hoffman combined for the next five points to push Concord ahead 72-69.
UC rattled off seven straight points as Concord chased the lead. The Mountain Lions were able to get within 83-81 with 4:02 remaining after two more Hanna free throws. However, Charleston went on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 91-81 with 1:33 left.
CU found itself down 32-14 just past the halfway point of the first half, but an extended 24-9 run got the Mountain Lions within 41-36 with 1:30 left in the opening half.
Five players finished in double figures for the Maroon and Gray. Hoffman netted a career-high 21 points in 30 minutes off the bench. He was 6-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-7 at the foul line.
Freshman guard
Micah Young tallied 17 points and five of CU's 12 assists. Hanna poured in 16 points. Wertz put up 14 points, and Djigo notched his 11
th double-double of the year with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Concord was nearly perfect at the free-throw stripe, going 26-for-28 (92.9 percent).
Paced by Djigo, Concord owned a 35-25 advantage on the glass, but was unable to slow Charleston on the offensive end.
The Mountain Lions return to the Carter Center 4:00 p.m. Saturday to face Glenville State. Â
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