Mountain Lions Best Glenville State, 73-61 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University men's basketball team shot 52.5 percent from the field and three players scored in double digits to help the Mountain Lions snap their two-game losing streak with a 73-61 victory over Glenville State College Monday night at the Carter Center.

Concord's record improves to 10-6 overall and 6-6 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Conference while Glenville State falls to 9-8 overall and 6-7 in league play. Concord led by as many as 20 points and trailed for a total of just two minutes and one second against GSC.

The Mountain Lions made 31-of-59 shots in what was their second-best shooting effort of the season. CU also went 6-for-8 from the foul line for a free throw percentage of 75 percent. Concord's defense held Glenville State to just a 36.5 percent (19-for-52) performance from the field.

The Maroon and Gray dominated virtually every statistical category over Glenville State including: Rebounds (37-30), assists (19-8), points in the paint (40-20), points off turnovers (14-10), second chance points (12-7) and bench scoring (41-12). No matter the combination of reserves, Concord's bench has only been outscored three times this season.

Sophomore guard Thomas Brown produced team-highs of 13 points and three steals to go with four assists while junior forward Nick Ruffin and sophomore forward Jordan Davis both added 12 and 10 points, respectfully, on the offensive end. Davis, who was 5-for-7 from the field, came close to a double-double after a strong night on the glass that saw him pull in seven rebounds.

Senior center Gentry Shrewsbury nearly became CU's fourth player to finish in double figures after scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in addition to making his only free throw attempt of the evening.

Freshman forward Nick Moyer and sophomore guard Paul Byrd made the first starts of their Concord careers Monday. Moyer responded with season-highs of six points and eight rebounds while Byrd matched his previous season-high of five assists.

Trailing 5-4 early on, a basket by Davis gave Concord a 6-5 lead with 16:22 to play in the opening half that it would never surrender. Glenville State managed to tie the contest at 10-10, but the Mountain Lions were able to create distance between themselves and the Pioneers with a 12-1 run over a four-minute span midway through the first half to give Concord a commanding 22-11 lead. Five players netted points during the run.

CU went on to close out the half by scoring six of the periods final seven points, taking a 32-21 lead into the break. Davis and Shrewsbury both had strong opening half's, totaling eight and seven points each.

Concord quickly turned its 11-point lead into a 20-point advantage thanks to a 9-0 spurt to start the second half off of four points by freshman guard Cam Shannon, a three-pointer from Byrd and a layup from sophomore guard Mike Boyd. The 20-point edge was more than enough for Concord as they cruised to the 12-point victory, 73-61. The Mountain Lions' lead did not dip below 11 points in the second period.

11 of Brown's points came in the second half.

Jamel Morris scored a game-high 16 points for Glenville State.

Concord will head back on the road to play at Wheeling Jesuit 7:30 p.m. Thursday before returning home for back-to-back games against West Virginia Wesleyan and Alderson-Broaddus February 4 and 5.