On Wednesday night, the Concord Men’s Basketball team fell victim to a game-changing 16-0 run by Wheeling Jesuit as the Cardinals took a 79-62 win in Athens.
On Thursday night, CU was on the other end of another important opposition rally.
West Virginia Wesleyan grabbed a first-half lead with a 12-0 outburst, and raced away to a 96-74 victory at the Rockefeller Center in Buckhannon, WV.
Fatigue may have been a factor for Concord, which was playing its fifth game in a mere seven days.
A jumper by Rafee Smith put Concord up 9-6 barely four minutes into the game. But in the span of 5:07, the Bobcats reeled off a dozen unanswered points and pulled away from there. WVWC would extend its advantage to as many 13 points – at 38-25, following a three-pointer by Jeff White with 1:25 left – and would lead 40-31 at the break.
Employing a full-court press, Concord forced the Bobcats into 14 first-half turnovers. But the Mountain Lions couldn’t exploit Wesleyan’s generosity, shooting a cold .237 (9-37) from the field.
Concord pulled within 40-34 after Gentry Shrewsbury three-point play on the first possession of the second half. But WVWC responded with another rally. By the time it ended, the Bobcats were ahead 67-45 and were cruising to just their third home victory of the season.
Rick Alderman led Concord with 20 points. Damien Tunstalle added 13 and Chance Smith 11.
Dominique Ngniman and Justin Caldwell topped WVWC with 22 points each.
The Bobcats deciphered the Concord press well enough to shoot a gaudy .700 (21-30) from the field in the second half and .582 (32-55) for the game.
The Mountain Lions, flustered by the Bobcats’ trapping zone defense, finished at .307 (23-75), and an even colder .125 (3-24) from three-point range.
The loss drops Concord to 5-18, 4-14 in the WVIAC. West Virginia Wesleyan upped its record to 6-18, 6-13.
Concord returns home to host conference power West Virginia State Saturday evening at 6:00, part of a WVIAC doubleheader with the women’s team.
Classic Rock 102 The River (102.3 FM WMTD) will broadcast both games, starting at 3:30 pm EST. An audio webcast will be available at www.theriver102.com. The women’s contest will begin at 4:00.