Saturday, December 8, 2007

 

CONCORD BEATS TUSCULUM 75-64 IN MEN’S BASKETBALL

                                                                                                                                                             

                ATHENS, W.Va. --- The Concord University men’s basketball team went on a 19-3 run late in the game to defeat visiting Tusculum College 75-64 Saturday afternoon at Carter Gym.  The Mountain Lions improve to 4-2 on the season, while the Pioneers fall to 3-5 overall.

 

                Tusculum’s Jordan Lear recorded 20 points and a dozen rebounds, while Kyle Moore finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.  Ryan Troutman accounted for 12 points, five boards and five assists in the loss.

 

                Dannie Parker paced the Mountain Lions with 16 points, while Cordale Boyd and Matthew Parker added 15 and 14 points, respectively.

 

                Concord battled back from a 36-26 halftime deficit with a 10-0 run in the opening 4:46 of the second period to knot the contest at 36-36 following a bucket by Rafee Smith.  Lear regained the advantage for Tusculum with his three-point play and increased its lead to five at 43-38 after a lay-up by Marko Kostic.

 

                With Tusculum leading by five (45-40) with nine minutes remaining, Concord got three-pointers by Rustin Jesse and Parker to retake the lead at 46-45 with 7:56 left on the clock.

 

                Down the stretch, the lead would exchange hands twice, along with three ties, including the final one coming at 52-52, after a three-pointer by Moore at the 3:53 mark.

 

                Following a Concord timeout, Parker made a lay-up to start the Lions’ 19-3 spurt.  On the ensuing possession, Moore was knocked to the floor on his three-point attempt, but no violation was called as the ball went out of bounds to Concord.  The Mountain Lions took advantage on its next trip up the floor, when Parker buried a three-pointer from the right corner with 1:35 remaining as Concord led 60-52.

 

                Concord moved out to a 10-point lead when Boyd made two free throws, but TC got a three-point play from Moore with 1:15 left in the contest to trim the deficit to seven (62-55).

 

                Following a Tusculum personal foul, a technical foul was called on the TC bench.  While Parker was shooting his foul shots, another technical was called on the Pioneer bench.  In all, the Mountain Lions shot six free throws, making five and retaining possession in the process.  Parker canned a jumper with 55 seconds left to give the Lions their largest lead of the night at 71-55. 

 

TC closed the gap as Lear, Moore and Troutman made three-pointers in the final 53 seconds, while the Pioneers forced a pair of turnovers, but it wasn’t enough.

 

                Concord, which entered the game shooting just 58 percent from the free throw line as a team, went 19-for-23 (82.6%), including 15-of-18 in the second half and 11-of-13 in the final 1:19.

 

                The Pioneers shot 29 percent from the floor, including 10-for-36 from three-point territory.  Concord fired 42 percent from the field, including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from three-point land in the second half.

 

                Concord jumped out to a pair of six-point leads in the opening half, including 14-8 halfway through the period after a three-pointer by Rafee Smith.  Tusculum answered with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to move up 22-14.  CU whittled the deficit with a 6-0 run to trail 22-20 with 4:35 remaining in the first half.

 

                Tusculum scored 10 unanswered points to take its biggest lead of the game at 36-24 with 59 seconds remaining before the intermission, including three 3-pointers by Moore.

 

                Tusculum wraps up its seven-game road trip on Wednesday when the Pioneers travel to Lees-McRae College for a 7 p.m. contest.

 

- TC -