Davis' Double-Double Leads Concord Past D&E, 82-74 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Davis' Double-Double Leads Concord Past D&E, 82-74

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ATHENS -

Sophomore forward Jordan Davis scored a career-high 18 points and the Concord University men's basketball team made 20-of-24 free throws on its way to an 82-74 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Davis & Elkins Monday night at the Carter Center in Athens W. Va.

The victory improves Concord's record to 13-9 overall and 8-10 in WVIAC play. The Mountain Lions' win coupled with Seton Hill's loss at Wheeling Jesuit Monday night moves CU into eighth place in the WVIAC standings, which is the final seed that earns the right to host a first round game in the WVIAC Tournament. If CU can hold on, or improve, its WVIAC ranking it would host a postseason game for the second time in as many years.

Davis also grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. A 60.2 percent shooter on the season, Davis was once again efficient on the offensive end, making 5-of-8 field goals while going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. The eight made foul shots tied a season-high for Concord. Six of Davis' 10 boards came on the offensive end.

Senior forward Damien Tunstalle just missed a double-double of his own after a 14-point, eight-rebound performance. Sophomore forward Thomas Brown scored 13 points with the guard duo of senior Eric Bailey and sophomore Mike Boyd chipping in nine points apiece. Boyd also passed out six assists while not turning the ball over for the second-straight game and Bailey hauled in five rebounds.

Senior center Gentry Shrewsbury had eight points, five rebounds and one block and freshman guard Cam Shannon scored seven points to round out Concord's top performers. Shannon has now made 10 consecutive foul shots after going 4-for-4 vs. D&E. He has missed just one attempt from the charity stripe in the Mountain Lions' last nine games (33-for-34).

As a team, the undersized Mountain Lions battled their way to a 41-34 rebounding edge that included 16 Concord offensive rebounds.

Concord also held advantages in free throws made (20-11), assists (17-12), points in the paint (32-22) and bench scoring (30-13) despite plying just three reserves. The Maroon and Gray forced 14 turnovers while committing a season-low six miscues of their own.

Davis & Elkins (7-16, 6-13 WVIAC) held a single-digit lead for the opening 12:15 of regulation until Tunstalle capped off a 13-6 Concord run with a bucket in the paint to give the Mountain Lions their first lead of the night, 23-22, with 7:44 to play in the half. Concord would not trail for the rest of the game.

CU saw an offensive explosion that resulted in Concord scoring 21 of the game's next 30 points to earn a commanding 13-point, 44-31, lead at the 2:32 mark in opening period. Brown led the charge with seven points in the five-minute window. The Mountain Lions headed into halftime leading 46-35.

The Senators cut Concord's lead down to as little as one point in the second half, but the Mountain Lions kept D&E at bay with a combination of aggressive rebounding, timely shooting and tough defensive stops to preserve a crucial conference victory, 82-74. Davis and Tunstalle combined for 21 points in the second half.

D'Quan Lynch and Devin Miller scored 23 and 21 points, respectively, for Davis & Elkins in the loss.