Concord Overwhelms West Virginia Wesleyan in 35-Point Win, 97-62

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – A 21-4 run by the Concord University men's basketball team just past the midway point of the first half propelled the Mountain Lions to a 97-62 win over West Virginia Wesleyan Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game inside the Rockefeller Center.

The 35-point win is the largest margin of victory for the Mountain Lions since December 14, 2016 against Bluefield State (90-53).

Up 17-13 after the teams had traded the lead three times in the early going, Concord (9-3, 6-0 MEC) tore off a lengthy run that separated the Mountain Lions from West Virginia Wesleyan (0-12, 0-6 MEC).

Sophomore forward Kraig Gilbert (seven) and junior forward Boubacar Djigo (six) combined for 13 of the 21 points, but five different Mountain Lions scored during the run. The remained at least 20 for the remainder of the opening half.

With a lead of 47-24 at halftime, Concord netted 12 of the first 14 points of the second half to take the advantage to 33 points, 59-26. The Bobcats scored back-to-back buckets to get the lead back under 30 points with 15:44 remaining. But, on the next Concord trip junior forward Anfernee Hanna restored al ead of at least 30 points for all but 52 seconds of the final 15:19 of the game.

CU put four players in double figures. Djigo led all scorers in the game with 17 points to go with 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Hanna threw in 15 points. Junior guard Khamani Wertz scored all 12 of his points in the first half. He added six assists, three rebounds and a team-best three steals.

Sophomore guard Josiah Rickards netted 10 points to go with four rebounds and four assists.

Wertz led Concord's three-point barrage as the Mountain Lions made 15 three-pointers to tie their season best that was set in the previous game versus Salem. The Charlotte, North Carolina native was 4-for-5 from three-point distance. Redshirt freshman guard Riley Clevenger, Hanna, sophomore guard Brendan Hoffman and sophomore guard Josiah Rickards all had two three pointers.

CU shot 54.5 percent (36-for-66) from the floor and made 51.7 percent from beyond the arc (15-for-29).

The Maroon and Gray set a new season high with 26 assists.  Wertz led the way in the assist column with six. Gilbert, Hanna and Rickards all had four assists.

The Mountain Lions welcome Davis & Elkins to the Carter Center for an MEC contest Saturday.