WHEELING, W.Va. — Glenville State, Concord and Frostburg State collected victories on Day 1 of the 2023 Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament at WesBanco Arena with victories on Wednesday.
Men’s Tournament Game #1 – No. 7 Glenville State 96, No. 10 Wheeling 84
By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
A 24-9 spurt in the final 8:21 of the opening half helped seventh-seeded Glenville State break open a close game with 10th-seeded Wheeling University and cruise to a 96-84 victory in the opening round of the annual Mountain East Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Wednesday evening here at WesBanco Arena.
The Pioneers’ dynamic backcourt duo of Jordan Turbo Smith and Freddie Word combined for 18 of GSU’s 24 points on the game-changing run as they both tallied nine points en route to double-figure scoring performances. Smith finished with a game-high 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Word ended up with 22 points and three assists.
“We kinda feel like we’ve got to set the tone for our team,” Word said. “When we get going, the team gets going.”
Smith agrees.
“Honestly I feel like for us that run started on the defensive end,” Smith said. “We had a huddle on the court before a free throw and we just said ‘We’ve got to get some stops. It’s time to go.’ Right then we all locked in. We got some stops and on offense our teammates found us, we scored the ball, made the right reads and handled business like we’re supposed to do.”
Wheeling’s Marcus Johnson, who led the Cardinals with 25 points and 10 rebounds, says Smith and Word were a handful for his team’s defense Wednesday night.
“They’re hard to guard because they’re so quick, fast and downhill all of the time,” said Johnson. “We didn’t rotate fast enough to stop the open three. They kinda put us in scramble mode on defense and they were either getting to the rim or getting kick outs for open threes.”
The victory improved the Pioneers to 17-12 on the year and earned them a berth in the quarterfinals Friday at noon against second-seeded Fairmont State (22-6). Glenville swept the regular-season series with the Falcons winning 88-83 in Fairmont and 85-84 in overtime in Glenville.
“Tonight I thought we played pretty well, especially in the first half to create a little of that separation,” said Pioneer coach Justin Caldwell. “When you hold a team to 30 percent from the field and 12 percent from three like we did in the first half you’re going to set yourself up to win a lot of games.
“I thought we did a pretty good job, especially in the first half of defending which plays to our strength. When we can get stops, we can get the ball out in transition and we’re a transition basketball team.”
The Pioneers shot 42.5 percent from the field in the opening half, including a 7-of-19 showing from behind the 3-point line. GSU also turned Wheeling over eight times which led to 13 points and a 52-34 lead at the break. In the second half the Cardinals never got any closer than the final 12-point margin.
Wheeling finishes the season with a 6-23 record. Twelve of the Cardinals’ losses this season have been by single digits and 10 of those were by five points or less.
“There’s not much to say about today’s game,” Wheeling coach Chris Richardson said. “We didn’t play our best.
“For a team with our record we have had very few performances like that. There’s probably a lot of people surprised to see us here given our record. The most surprising thing for us today is our performance was not us. Give a lot of credit to Glenville State for that. We struggled to make shots and we struggled to pass and catch early. We have no excuses, though. We’re a no-excuse program.”
Wheeling played the contest without leading scorer and first-team All-MEC selection John Korte, who was sidelined with a reported back injury. Korte averaged 19.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest for the Cardinals during the regular season.
“There’s no question that hurt them,” Caldwell said. “He averages 19 points a game so he puts a lot of pressure on your defense.”
In addition to Smith and Word, Glenville got 20 points and five rebounds from Jacquez Yow and 11 points and three steals from De’Ante Petree.
Johnson’s double-double performance for Wheeling was complemented by Brent Price, who also posted a double-double scoring 20 points and grabbing a game-high 14 boards. The Cardinals also got 19 points and six rebounds from Andrew Taylor.
“We have a great group of young men on our team,” said Taylor. “We’ve got gym rats. Guys who will be in the gym every day. We’ve had our struggles this season. We had a lot of ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade this group of guys for nothing. Our togetherness as a team is amazing. Going into this off season we’re going to work our butts off and you’ll will see us again. I promise that.”
The Glenville win extended the winless streak for No. 10 seeds in the tournament to nine straight games. No 10th-seed has ever won a game in the MEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. In the 2021 Covid-shortened season divisional seeding was used for the tournament so there was no No. 10 seed.
Men’s Tournament Game #2 – No. 8 Concord 76, Alderson Broaddus 65
By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
First-team All-Mountain East Conference forward Daniel Rahama scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help eighth-seeded Concord University pull away from ninth-seeded Alderson-Broaddus in the game’s final six minutes and record a 76-65 victory in the opening round of the league’s annual men’s basketball tournament here Wednesday evening at WesBanco Arena.
“When he came into our program two years ago he made an immediate impact,” said Concord coach Todd May. “We talk with our guys about being everyday guys. He brings it every single day. He raises the level of his teammates. He’s a leader, a great person and he was special tonight for us for sure.”
The double-double was Rahama’s team-leading 12th of the season. He also combined with teammate J.J. Harper to score 12 of the Mountain Lions final 18 points as they pulled away from the Battlers with an 18-10 spurt in the game’s last 6:46.
“Just being a guy with experience it’s what you have to do as a player when you get the opportunity,” Rahama said. “It’s my second year here, but my fifth playing college basketball. I’ve tried to learn from my old school and here to be a good leader and to do what I have to do and what I want us to do as a team to get a win.”
Veteran A-B coach Stephen Dye admits Rahama was a problem for his team’s defense all evening.
“He’s experienced and as coaches we love that,” Dye said. “You need those floor leaders in tough situations on the floor. He’s been in a lot of tough situations over his five years of playing.
“He’s fun to watch. Now, I don’t like watching him when I’m coaching against him, but I really like watching him when I’m not. He just plays the game the right way. He’s tough, hard-nosed and very physical. My guys know that. They talk about him and have a lot of respect for him.”
A-B struggled to shoot the ball for much of the game. The Battlers finished just 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the field, including just 7-of-25 (28 percent) from long range. Concord also outscored A-B in the paint 48-34.
“It was a tough game for us,” Dye said. “We obviously didn’t play our best. It was a very physical game and I thought we battled, but we just didn’t have our A game today. Thirty-four percent from the field is not typically us. We struggled from the 3-point line and we knew coming in it was going to be a battle in the paint and we just didn’t get it done. Getting outscored 48-34 in the paint is pretty much the story of the game.”
Harper finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for the Mountain Lions who improved to 15-14 overall and earned the right to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round against top-seeded West Liberty (25-3) at 6 p.m. Concord also got 11 points from Ethan Heller and eight points apiece from both Jevon Laidler and Amare Smith.
“It was a really good college basketball game,” May said. “Give credit to A-B and coach Dye. They were down a few bodies, but they came out and jumped on us early. I thought our guys did a great job of responding. It was a close game at the half and for much of the second half, but we were able to extend the lead late and I think that started with our defense. We did a phenomenal job of holding that team to 35 percent shooting and on the glass where were plus five. That was a key.”
A-B, which finished its season at 11-17, got 16 points from Jalen Knott, 13 points and 12 rebounds from Jon King, 12 points from Coryon Rice and 10 from Sirr Hughes.
“This game hurt to be honest,” Knott said. “This is the game everyone wanted. We felt like we were better than our seeding and to go out and perform like we did tonight was disappointing.”
Women’s Tournament Game #1 – No. 7 Concord 78, No. 10 Notre Dame College 67
By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
WHEELING, W.Va. – The third time wasn’t as easy for Concord’s women’s basketball team against feisty Notre Dame College but it was still a charm here Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the annual Mountain East Conference Tournament at WesBanco Arena.
The seventh-seeded Mountain Lions, who had raced to big early leads and rolled to double-digit wins twice during the regular season over the 10th-seeded Falcons, had to overcome an eight-point, third-quarter deficit to eliminate Notre Dame, 78-67.
The victory improved Concord to 13-16 on the year and sets up a meeting with second-seeded West Virginia State (22-5) in the tournament quarterfinals Thursday at noon. Concord knocked off West Virginia State 82-71 in the next-to-last game of the regular season on Feb. 22.
Notre Dame finished its season at 7-22.
“I’ve got to give it to our girls because they battled the entire game,” first-year Concord head coach Tesla Southcott said. “It was a very physical game. Notre Dame took us a little bit out of our element in the first half. We weren’t using our strengths. We weren’t playing inside out. We weren’t throwing the ball ahead. We’re normally a team which prides itself on defense and we were, to be quit honest, a little off.
“I think some of that was a little bit of nerves and being anxious and playing in this arena for the first time this year. We’ve got a lot of kids in new roles for us, but in the second half I think you saw more glimpses of the real Concord. You saw the fight and determination.”
After an even first quarter, Notre Dame’s Lizzie Imrie and Noel Weathers helped the Falcons take a 32-29 lead at the half. In the first 2:39 of the third quarter the Falcons’ three-point advantage had ballooned to a game-high eight-point lead at 39-31.
“I think our girls came out and played hard for the most part and definitely showed some growth,” NDC coach Imani Gordon said.
“Towards the end, though, we couldn’t execute when we needed to. We kinda crumbled and fell apart. We’ll take it, learn from it and come back stronger next year.”
Imrie agrees.
“I was really proud of the effort we showed today,” said Imrie, who led all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds. “Being the 10-seed is never the standard at Notre Dame, but we gave it our all today.
“We did have some mental lapses on both the offensive and defensive ends. We know that basketball is a game of runs and we tried to contain those runs as best as we could, but it was unfortunate that we let it slip away from us. We all wanted this game bad because we’ve been through a lot this season.”
Trailing by eight early in the third quarter Concord’s Southcott had seen enough. She called timeout, challenged her team and employed a press defense which turned the Falcons over a few times and paved the way for a quick Mountain Lion comeback.
“In that timeout I challenged them,” Southcott said. “I said ‘What are you made of? Right now you’re going down. If you don’t step on the gas and show everyone what you’re made of then you’re going to lose this ball game. Do you want your season to end today?’ I believe that was the statement I made.
Concord’s Abbie Smith draws the and-one
Notre Dame currently leads 44-41 over Concord (4:31 3rd) pic.twitter.com/gnlkR78wtV
— Mountain East Conf. (@TheMountainEast) March 1, 2023
“Teams that respond to that and honestly want that are the teams who can turn it around in the second half. Our girls did that.”
Led by Nakaila Gray and Abbie Smith, Concord wiped out its eight-point deficit in just over 60 seconds of game time and knotted the score at 39. After that it was close until the Mountain Lions began pulling away in the game’s final five minutes.
“One thing this team is about is grit and determination,” Concord’s Jaisah Smith, who led the Mountain Lions with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, said. “Coach T instills in us to never put our heads down. She tells us to keep fighting and that’s exactly what we did.”
Concord went 27-of-38 from the foul line in the game, including an 11-of-15 showing in the fourth quarter. The Mountain Lions also connected on seven of nine field goals in the final quarter. NDC, on the other hand, was just 5-of-18 from the field in the fourth quarter.
Joining Smith in double figures for Concord were Gray, who finished with 16 points, Abbie Smith, who added 12 and Maddie Ratcliff, who chipped in 11.
Besides Imrie, Notre Dame got double-digit scoring from Amil Ali-Shakir and Weathers, who both finished with 12 points and Cencere McDaniel, who contributed 11.
Women’s Tournament Game #2 – No. 9 Frostburg State 70, No. 8 Davis & Elkins 64
By Chris Thomas
WHEELING, W.Va. – Ninth-ranked Frostburg State made nearly 64 percent of its shots in the fourth quarter and rallied past eighth-seeded Davis & Elkins, 70-64, on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the Mountain East Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, presented by The Health Plan.
“It feels good to get Frostburg State University’s first MEC Tournament win in school history,” said first-year Bobcat head coach Jenna Eckleberry. “We came out on fire in the first half and played nearly a perfect 15 minutes, but late in the first half had some lapses on defense.
“Then, we gave up 25 points in the third quarter. But, in the fourth quarter we got down on defense and made stops. The players did not want their season to come to an end today and they stepped up and made plays.”
With Davis & Elkins leading 56-49 with 8:58 remaining in the fourth quarter, Frostburg State went on a 12-0 run over a five-minute stretch to take over momentum in the game with a 61-56 lead at the 2:47 mark. Emilee Weakley, the 2023 MEC Freshman of the Year, scored six points during the stretch while Rhiana Hall, Arianna Briggs-Hall and Shelby Funchess added buckets for the Bobcats.
Jackie Wright dropped in a layup and Ellie Wilkerson added a jump shot to bring the Senators back within a single point (61-60) with 2:11 remaining, but a layup by Briggs-Hall and a jumper by Weakley pushed the Bobcat lead back to six with 44 seconds remaining.
From that point, the Bobcats buried 4-of-4 free throw attempts to answer a pair of D&E baskets and Frostburg State advanced to Thursday’s 6 p.m. semifinal with a 70-64 first round win.
With today’s victory, Frostburg State advances to Thursday’s semifinal round against top-seeded Glenville State. Tip is set for 6 p.m. at WesBanco Arena.
Weakley led all scorers with 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Bobcats. Briggs-Hall added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Funchess and Hall also reached double-figures for Frostburg State with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Frostburg State’s Emilee Weakley drops in the layup to cut the Davis & Elkins lead to three (56-53) with just over seven minutes remaining. pic.twitter.com/RC73gt8jC2
— Mountain East Conf. (@TheMountainEast) March 1, 2023
For the game, Frostburg State shot 42 percent from the floor, including a 7-of-11 (63.6%) performance in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats scored 22 points off turnovers and had 38 points in the paint during the victory.
Davis & Elkins had four double-figure scorers in the game, led by Ellie Wilkerson with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Taylor Smith added 12 points and three steals. Wright and Jaela Reid also reached double-figures with 11 and 10, respectively.
The Senators shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the floor on the afternoon. Davis & Elkins shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the third quarter and rallied from a six-point deficit at the 8:50 mark of the third quarter to a five-point lead with 3:50 remaining in the third. D&E would hold on to the lead and entered the fourth quarter with a 52-49 advantage.
“We’ve talked about highs and lows all season, but I’m proud of how the team came together this season,” said Davis & Elkins first-year head coach Donna Carr.
D&E scored 12 points on the fast-break and also dropped in 15 points off of nine offensive boards.
Although Frostburg State led for over 28 minutes, the game featured three lead changes and five ties.
Thursday schedule:
Tournament Game #5 (Women’s quarterfinal): No. 2 West Virginia State vs. No. 7 Concord – Noon
Tournament Game #6 (Women’s quarterfinal): No. 3 Charleston vs. No. 6 Wheeling – 2:30 p.m.
Tournament Game #7 (Women’s quarterfinal): No. 1 Glenville State vs. No. 8 No. 9 Frostburg State – 6 p.m.
Tournament Game #8 (Women’s quarterfinal): No. 4 Fairmont State vs. No. 5 West Liberty – 8:30 p.m.