Concord Earns 92-81 Road Win at WV Tech - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University men's basketball team scored over 90 points for the second time this season on its way to a 92-81 road victory at West Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon.

The win, Concord's third in four games, improves the Mountain Lions' record to 6-2 overall on the season. West Virginia Tech drops to 8-8 overall with the loss. The victory was Concord's second triumph vs. West Virginia Tech this season; CU defeated the Golden Bears at home, 93-78, on Dec. 3. The Mountain Lions have now won seven of their last 10 games against Tech.

Concord had its second-best shooting performance of the season Saturday, hitting 50.8 percent (31-for-61) of its shots from the field. CU was also an impressive 23-for-29 (79.3 percent) from the foul line. As a team, the Mountain Lions held a commanding advantage in rebounds (51-26) while also holding edges in blocks (5-2), steals (12-8) and assists (21-11). The Maroon and Gray's rebounding, block, assist and steal totals were all season-highs.

Four Concord players finished with double-figure scoring totals as senior forward Damien Tunstalle led the way with 21 points followed by sophomore guard Thomas Brown (17 points), sophomore forward Jordan Davis (13 points) and sophomore guard Mike Boyd (11 points).

Tunstalle rounded out his night with five rebounds and three steals with Brown also making three steals in addition to seven rebounds. Davis, who ranks fourth in the WVIAC in field goal percentage, went 5-for-7 from the floor in addition to hauling in six rebounds and blocking two shots. Boyd had a perfect shooting day, going 2-for-2 from the field, including one three-pointer, and 6-for-6 from the foul line. He also dished out a game-high six assists while accumulating seven rebounds.

In 16 minutes of playing time, junior forward Nick Ruffin was able to compile a game-high 10 rebounds to go with a personal-best five assists. Senior forward Gentry Shrewsbury and sophomore forward Alex McGlothin chipped in nine points and four rebounds apiece.

The game was a nip-and-tuck contest for the majority of the afternoon. Concord never trailed by any more than three points, but its largest lead over the Golden Bears being just eight points until the final minutes of the game. In total, there were 13 lead changes and 17 ties on the afternoon.

The two schools played to a 39-39 tie after the first 16:26 of the opening period before Concord closed out the half on a 12-4 run to take a 51-43 lead into halftime. The run was sparked by five points from Tunstalle and seven rebounds from Ruffin.

The second half was another back-and-forth affair. Tech erased Concord's halftime lead and took a one-point lead (54-53) of its own just over four minutes into the second period. However, the Mountain Lions battled back and finally took the lead for good at 71-70 with nine minutes to play in the game off of a Ruffin basket.

CU, which led by as many as 14 points in the final stages of the game, closed out the contest by outscoring WV Tech 21-11 through the final nine minutes of regulation after connecting on seven of its final 12 shots from the field. Boyd also made his final six foul shots during the stretch.

West Virginia Tech's David Rawlinson led all scorers with 33 points. He was 11-of-25 from the field and 11-for-13 from the foul line.

With its non-conference schedule now complete, Concord will jump back into West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play when it hosts Charleston on Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Concord is 2-2 in WVIAC games so far this season.