Concord Erases 12-Point Deficit, Beats Kutztown 79-73 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University men's basketball team trailed Kutztown University by as many as 12 points Saturday, but were able to pull off the comeback to win its second game in as many days by defeating the Golden Bears, 79-73 on day two of the Mercyhurst College Invitational. The contest featured nine lead changes.

Concord (2-0) had three players score in double figures with senior forward Damien Tunstalle leading the way after scoring a team-high 19 points. Sophomore forward Jordan Davis and freshman guard Jake Bischoff added 16 and 11 points, respectively. Davis' scoring total was a career-high, he narrowly missed a double-double with a game-best nine rebounds. Bischoff also had a game-high two steals.

Also helping the Mountain Lions' offensive effort was sophomore forward Alex McGlothin (nine points), sophomore guard Mike Boyd (eight points) and sophomore guard Paul Byrd (eight points).

As a team, the Mountain Lions dominated the glass, totaling a 31-19 edge over Kutztown (0-2) in rebounds. Concord came away with an impressive 13 offensive rebounds that led to nine second-chance points.

For the game, Concord shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the field and 40 percent (10-for-25) from three-point range. CU has made at least 10 three-pointers in both of its games this year.

Kutztown jumped out to an eight-point lead (16-8) coming out of the first the media timeout before Concord made the first of its many comebacks on the day by going on a 16-5 run to take a 24-23 lead with just under nine minutes to play in the half. However, the Golden Bears were able to regroup to go on a 17-4 run of their own, opening up a 12-point lead, their largest of the night, at 40-28 with four minutes to go in the period.

The Mountain Lions were able to trim eight points off the lead and headed into halftime behind by just four points (46-42).

Concord spent the opening 10 minutes of the second half attempting to overtake Kutztown before Bischoff hit one of his three three-pointers of the game to give Concord its first lead of the half (58-57). Both schools traded buckets before CU finally pulled ahead for good when Tunstalle hit a three-pointer to put the Maroon and Gray up 66-63 with 5:45 to play.

Kutztown would tie the game one more time, but Concord was able to close out the game thanks in part to seven made foul shots down the stretch, preserving the 79-73 victory.

Concord connected on 25-of-34 foul shots and, as was the case in Friday's win vs. Mercyhurst, dominated the bench scoring (34-10).

Micah Fraction led Kutztown with a game-high 28 points and five assists.

The Mountain Lions will look to remain perfect on the season when they open up West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play 3:00 p.m. Nov. 17 vs. Pitt-Johnstown in the Carter Center.