ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team outlasted Fayetteville State Monday night, 80-76, in the season-opening game at the Carter Center.

Concord (1-0) fell behind 12-1 to start the game, but slowly crawled back into the contest as one of three first-half three-pointers from redshirt freshman guard Kody Frey tied the game at 15-15 at the 13:41 mark of the first half. The teams traded buckets over the next five minutes of the first half to keep the score deadlocked at 19-19.

FSU (0-1) went up 21-19 at the 8:08 mark, but Frey immediately answered with a three-pointer 10 seconds later, and Concord never trailed again in the contest.

The lead reached nine points, 36-27, with 3:37 left in the first half after freshman guard JR Bates converted a layup.

Right before halftime, the Mountain Lions withstood a Fayetteville State surge, and led 41-38 at the intermission.

Into the second half, CU answered every Bronco run with its own spurt, including freshman forward Ryan Mann capping a 9-1 run with a three-pointer at the 7:10 mark to grow the lead to a game-best 14 points, 67-53.

Still leading 72-61with 3:32 remaining, Concord had to hold off Fayetteville State one more time to secure the win. FSU got within 72-68 with 2:13 left, but a layup from senior guard Kam Bender on the next CU possession was enough for the Mountain Lions.

Concord combined to 6-for-8 at the foul line in the final 51 seconds to secure the victory.

Bender scored nine of his 22 points in the final 8:41 of the game as he completed his full stat line with seven rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocks. Frey nearly had a double-double in his CU debut with 21 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Sophomore guard Keenan Gray went for 15 points on 9-for-10 shooting at the foul line. Bates was the final Mountain Lion in double figures with 10 points.

The Mountain Lions had a 39-37 edge in rebounding while holding FSU to 33.9 percent shooting (19-for-56).

The game featured 58 combined fouls with 88 combined free throws. CU finished 30-for-41 (73.2 percent) at the charity stripe.

Concord travels to the Hilton Garden Inn Classic hosted by Indiana (Pa.) Friday and Saturday where it faces IUP first 7:30 p.m. Friday.