Concord Defeated by Point Park

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's basketball team's rally over the final six minutes of the game came up short in an 82-76 loss to Point Park Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference contest at the Carter Center.

Trailing 69-60 with 6:19 remaining in the contest, the Mountain Lions (11-10, 7-6 MEC) began chipping away at the Point Park (7-13, 5-10 MEC) lead. Senior guard Savier McCall got back-to-back to go with the second coming at the 4:42 mark.

CU forced a long three-pointer on the next PPU trip, and junior forward Eldon Terry tracked down the rebound. In transition, fellow junior forward Boubacar Djigo converted a short jumper to cut the deficit to 69-66.

McCall and sophomore guard John Gabbert each went 2-for-2 at the foul line sandwiched around a jumper from the Pioneers.

With the Point Park lead at 73-70, McCall went for 1-for-2 at the charity stripe before Terry grabbed the miss on the second shot, was fouled and hit both free throws—tying the game at 73-73 with 1:42 remaining.

However, PPU was success on a three-point play 12 seconds later. The Mountain Lions got within two points on the next possession, but could not tie or take the lead in the final 1:17.

The Pioneers shot out to a 14-7 lead just over six minutes into the game, and the margin remained five points, 17-12 at the 12:43 mark. However, CU cracked off a 9-0 run to take a 21-17 advantage at the 10:14 mark.

In the first half, there were four ties and six lead changes. Point Park, though, led 45-35 at halftime.

Concord pulled within six points two different times in the second half, but was unable to put pressure on PPU until the closing minutes of the game.

McCall continued his strong run with 22 points and seven rebounds. Djigo was the only other CU player in double figures as he finished with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Gabbert, junior forward Anfernee Hanna and sophomore guard Josiah Rickards all had nine points.

The Mountain Lions had a 50-40 rebounding edge, and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points. But, Concord was held to 36.9 percent shooting.

CU welcomes nationally-ranked Fairmont State 6:00 p.m. Monday as a three-game homestand continues.