Concord Falters at Glenville State

GLENVILLE, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team was defeated by Glenville State, 90-89, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the Waco Center.

The Mountain Lions finish the regular season at 14-14 overall and 10-10 in the MEC as they will be the sixth seed in the upcoming MEC Tournament, facing off with Wheeling 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinal round at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.

On the strength of 10 made three-pointers in the first half, CU built a 51-39 halftime lead. Sophomore guard Josiah Rickards buried three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, but it was freshman guard Micah Young's three-pointer at the halftime horn that gave Concord the double-digit lead.

The lead swelled to 15 points, 54-39, in the first 90 seconds of the second half as junior forward Boubacar Djigo hit one of his four triples in the contest. The advantage stayed at seven or higher as Concord held off a Glenville State (17-11, 11-9 MEC) surge, scoring five straight points to get the lead back above 10 points, 65-53, at the 14:17 mark of the second half.

Still leading by 10 points, 87-77, with 5:50 remaining after a bucket by Young, Concord watched GSU get within 89-85 with 1:47 left. The Pioneers made a three-pointer with 53 seconds remaining, and a foul was called on the Mountain Lions with four seconds left while Glenville State was shooting a three-pointer.

After a 2-for-3 effort at the charity stripe by GSU, Young's game-winning three-pointer was off the mark.

The Mountain Lions led for more than 37 minutes in the game as they did not begin to pull away from GSU until the final seven minutes, outscoring the Pioneers 18-10 over the final 7:32 of the first half.  

Concord made a season-high 16 three-pointers as it shot 43.2 percent (16-for-37) from beyond the arc. Djigo tied his career high with four made three-pointers. Young equaled Djigo's total. Rickards and junior guard Khamani Wertz each had three three-pointers.

Young went for 20 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Djigo added a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Anfernee Hanna tallied 16 points. Rickards tossed in 11 points. Wertz had all nine of his points from three-point range to go along with six assists.

The Mountain Lions are 7-2 this season when making at least 10 three-pointers. Both losses are to Glenville State.