Concord Defeated at Seton Hill, 68-56 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University men's basketball team lost a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest to Seton Hill University, 68-56, Saturday at Salvitti Gymnasium on the SHU campus.

The loss drops Concord's record to 9-6 overall and 5-6 in league play. Seton Hill improved its record to 10-8 overall and 7-7 in the WVIAC.

Sophomore guard Mike Boyd had team-highs of 12 points, three assists and two steals for Concord. Junior forward Nick Ruffin finished just short of a double-double with 10 points, on 5-of-8 shooting, and a team-best eight rebounds. Ruffin has led Concord in rebounds four times this season.

Freshman guard Cam Shannon and senior forward Damien Tunstalle scored eight and seven points, respectively. Tunstalle went 2-for-4 from three-point range while Shannon made his second start of the season. Sophomore guard Thomas Brown and sophomore forward Jordan Davis added six points apiece to round out Concord's top scorers. Brown also chipped in four rebounds.

As a team, Concord shot 42.9 percent (21-for-49) from the field overall, 50 percent (4-for-8) from three-point range and 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from the free throw line. Seton Hill countered with shooting percentages of 55.6 (25-for-45) from the field, 46.2 (6-for-13) from three-point territory and 75.0 (12-for-16) from the foul line. The Griffins also out rebounded Concord, 28-25.

Concord connected on three of its first five shots thanks to field goals from Davis, sophomore forward Alex McGlothin and a three-pointer by Tunstalle to give the Mountain Lions a 7-4 lead just over two minutes into the contest. Seton Hill proceeded to comeback over the following nine minutes to score 19 of the next 23 points to grab a 12-point lead, 23-11, with 8:52 to play in the period.

CU responded with a mini 6-0 run of its own to cut the margin to just six points, 23-17, before the Griffins extended their advantage to 13 points at 32-19. However, the Mountain Lions countered with another 6-0 spurt thanks to four points from Tunstalle and two more from Boyd to head into halftime trailing by just seven points (32-25).

The seven-point deficit proved to be as close as Concord would get Saturday as Seton Hill opened the second period on a 17-6 run to take a game-high 18-point lead (49-31) at the 11:25 mark in the half. The lead would not drop below nine points en route to the Griffins' 12-point win 68-56.

Malachi Leonard produced a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Seton Hill.

Concord will look to end its two-game losing streak Monday, Jan. 28 vs. Glenville State at the Carter Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.