Concord Comes Up Short at Notre Dame
The Concord University men’s basketball team overcame a slow start at Notre Dame, but was unable to get all the way back as it lost 84-75 Wednesday night to Notre Dame inside Murphy Gymnasium in a Mountain East Conference contest.
NDC (11-7, 8-5 MEC) raced out to a 17-5 lead in the first six minutes of the game. Concord (10-8, 7-6 MEC) methodically chipped away at the margin, and got to within 23-16 at the 9:30 mark after a bucket from graduate guard Lual Daniel Rahama. Two foul shots from sophomore forward Amare Smith trimmed the deficit to two possession, 29-25, with 4:54 remaining in the first half.
However, the Falcons held off any further threat as Notre Dame took a 40-32 lead at halftime.
After NDC opened the second half with a three-pointer, CU put together a 9-2 scoring run that was paced by six points from fifth-year senior forward Da’Vion Moore. And a three-pointer from junior guard JJ Harper at the 16:04 mark got Concord to within 45-44—the closest it had been since the opening seconds of the game.
But again, the Falcons fended off CU and ran the lead back out to nine points, 57-48, with 12:24 remaining. Five consecutive points from Rahama—that put him at 25 for the game—reduced the margin to four.
Notre Dame buckled down and held the Maroon and Gray scoreless for the next three minutes, and the four-point margin was as close as Concord got for the remainder of the contest.
Rahama poured in a career-best 28 points to go with seven rebounds. Moore scored all 14 points of his points after halftime. Smith went 7-for-7 at the foul line as part of his 12 points. Junior guard Jordan Wooden netted 11 points.
CU’s defense limited the Falcons to 39.1 percent shooting, but NDC outscored Concord 20-11 at the free throw line.
The Mountain Lions return home—after a four-game road trip—to play Alderson Broaddus 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
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