Playing on the road in college basketball always presents a challenge.
The visiting team leaves behind the comforts of home knowing it can encounter a hostile crowd, unfamiliar surroundings, weird bounces, and, perhaps, other advantages that can sometimes go the home team’s way.
In its visit to Shepherd Wednesday night, Concord was whistled for a season-high 34 fouls and attempted 28 fewer free throws than the Rams in a 92-85 defeat at the Butcher Center.
Shepherd attempted 47 free throws, making 27, while Concord finished 11-19. Three Mountain Lions fouled out, another had four fouls and three others had three by the time the final buzzer sounded. Shepherd was assessed 20 total fouls.
The frequent whistles disrupted what was an otherwise-entertaining contest. Concord shot .508 (32-63) from the field and .526 (10-19) from three-point range. Shepherd took advantage of a foul-weakened CU defense to shoot .600 (27-45) from the floor and healthy .611 (11-18) from beyond the arc.
With 12:20 left in the game, two of Concord’s tallest players (6’6” Marlin Cribbs and 6’5” Rick Alderman) had already been disqualified by fouls and Shepherd owned a 66-44 lead.
Forced to turn to a small lineup, the Mountain Lions switched to a full-court press and worked their way back into the contest. Concord staged a 36-14 rally to get within 80-76 with 3:32 remaining, but Shepherd recovered with an 8-2 mini-run to go up 88-78 with only 1:07 remaining and end CU’s comeback hopes.
Kortea Johnson led Concord with 19 points, shooting 8-11 from the field. Matt Parker added 18 points, sinking 4-5 from three-point range. Cory Willard and Rafee Smith each went for 13 points and Damien Tunstalle 10.
Chad Moore topped Shepherd with 28 points, going 11-15 from the free throw line. The backcourt duo of Aeron Spencer and Tyrone Roach added 22 and 18 points, respectively.
Concord wraps up the regular season by hosting Bluefield State at the Carter Center at 4:00 pm EST Saturday.
That game, part of a doubleheader with the women’s team, will be broadcast on Classic Rock 102 The River (102.3 FM WMTD) and webcast at www.theriver102.com, starting at 1:30.