Concord Blitzes Wheeling to Advance to MEC Semifinals

WHEELING, W.Va. -  The Concord University men's basketball team led from start to finish as it rolled to a 96-71 win over Wheeling in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Quarterfinals Friday afternoon at WesBanco Arena.

Concord (15-14) advances to the MEC Semifinals where it will face Fairmont State 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Mountain Lions jumped on Wheeling 12-4 after consecutive three-pointers from junior guard Khamani Wertz. Wheeling (19-9) netted five straight points, but CU had another burst in it as the Mountain Lions went on an 11-4 run to build a 23-13 lead after a jumper by freshman guard Micah Young at the 10:57 mark of the first half.

Concord could never full separate itself from the Cardinals until 12-0 run took the lead to 21 points, 47-26. Behind 52.6 percent shooting from the floor over the first 20 minutes, the Mountain Lions took a 51-34 lead into halftime.

Back-to-back buckets by senior guard Savier McCall in the first two minutes of the second half upped the lead over 20 points for the first time in the game, 57-36, at the 18:16 mark.

The lead eventually reached 37 points, 96-59, after a tip-in by Young with 4:15 remaining.

There was no drop off in shooting for Concord in the second half. In fact, the Maroon and Gray hit 54.5 percent of its field goal tries after halftime, finishing the game 38-for-71 from the floor (53.5 percent).

Junior forward Boubacar Djigo scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for his fourth 20-15 game of the year. After starting 1-for-4 from the floor, he finished making nine of his final 14 shots. Of Djigo's 10 made shots, six were dunks.

McCall recorded 15 points. Sophomore guard Josiah Rickards scored all 12 of his points in the first half. Junior guard Anfernee Hanna and sophomore Brendan Hoffman each had 11 points.

Young went for eight points and a team-best five assists.

Hoffman and Wertz made three three-pointers each as Concord finished 10-for-20 from three-point distance.

And the Mountain Lions more than controlled the boards as they finished with a plus-20 advantage on the glass, 48-28.

Defensively, CU held Wheeling to 40 percent shooting.

The 25-point victory for Concord was the largest postseason win since a 30-point win over Ohio Valley during the first round of the WVIAC Tournament in 2012.