Concord men push win streak to 10 in 98-79 victory over Wheeling

Feb. 23—ATHENS — The Concord University men's basketball team blitzed Wheeling in the first half as it opened up an 18-point lead in the first 12 minutes of the game on its way to a 98-70 victory Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.

The Mountain Lions (20-4, 13-4 MEC) won their 20th game of the season, just the 11th 20-win campaign in program history. CU also extended its winning streak to 10 straight games with the win.

A three-pointer by Wheeling (8-16, 5-13 MEC) put the Cardinals up 11-10 at the 16:29 mark of the first half. However, Concord ripped off a 12-0 run as five different players scored during the spurt. After

WU got within 22-14 at the 10:58 mark of the first half, a jumper from sophomore forward Rene Diop kickstarted another scoring run of 12-2. Senior guards JJ Harper and Jordan Wooden each hit a three-pointer during the spurt while Diop netted four points.

With the lead at 34-16, Wheeling got as close as 11 points over the final eight minutes of the half, but CU maintained an 18-point lead at the break, 57-39, after a bucket from fifth-year senior forward Jevon Laidler in the closing seconds.

A traditional three-point play from Harper to start the second half to build a 21-point lead as the Mountain Lions kept Wheeling's deficit at least 17 points in the second half.

Concord shot 50 percent for the third straight game as it hit on 50.7 percent from the floor (34-for-67) while holding Wheeling to 33.8 percent (25-for-74). The Mountain Lions were 75 percent at the foul line (24-for-32). And the Maroon and Gray held a 52-34 advantage in rebounding.

Six CU players finished in double figures, led by Harper's 21 points. He added 10 rebounds (six offensive) for his first career double-double. And Harper recorded four of Concord's seven blocks in the game.

Diop hit on 8-of-9 from the floor to finish with 16 points. Wooden netted 13 points. Sophomore guard Kollin Tolbert did a little bit of everything with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Laidler and sophomore forward Ayden Ince both had 10 points.

Defensively, Concord held Wheeling to 33.8 percent from the floor and limited the MEC's top scorer, Marcus Johnson, to 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Johnson began the night averaging 21.5 points per game.

Concord travels to West Liberty for an MEC showdown with the Hilltoppers.

4 p.m. Saturday.