Concord vs West Virginia State Preview

One streak going, one streak over.
The Concord basketball teams host West Virginia State in a WVIAC doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Lady Lions are aiming for their seventh consecutive victory, while the CU men saw their five-game winning streak snapped by Glenville State.
The Concord women took a big step closer to a finish in the top half of the WVIAC -- and home-court advantage in the first round of the conference tournament -- with their dramatic 62-60 win at the Lilly Gymnasium Thursday night. By contrast, the Mountain Lion men's hopes for a top eight finish may have gone away after their 82-70 loss to the Pioneers.

Both Yellowjacket teams are being pressed by Adlerson-Broaddus in the conference standings. The WVSU men are in first place, 17 power rating points ahead of the Battlers. The Lady Jackets currently hold the 8th and final upper-half spot, but by less than three PR points over A-B.
Meanwhile, Concord's advantage over WVSU for 7th in the league is a narrow 4.7 points.
The CU men are in 10th, and their remote chances for a top eight finish would be greatly enhanced with an upset. So there's a lot at stake on Saturday.

Each team in tomorrow's doubleheader appears in the most recent NCAA national statistics:

• State's Ted Scott is second in the country in scoring at 24.4 ppg. He's one of four WVIAC players in the nation's top seven.
• The Yellowjacket men are third in the nation in scoring (91.1 ppg). West Liberty State is the leader at 100.4.
• The WVSU men are 5th in blocked shots (5.7/game), 9th in 3-pointers per game (9.5) and 11th in field goal percentage (.498).
• State's Kenny Carter is 9th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.58).
• His teammate, Ricky Jackson, is 10th in field goal percentage (.637).
• WVSU's Darren Jones is making 45.5% of his 3-point shots, 9th best in the nation.
• Concord freshman Cory Willard is 11th in that category (.450), with the Lions' Matt Parker 35th (.408).
• Willard is 4th in 3-pointers per game (3.7), with Parker 46th (2.7).
• WVSU's Brittany Mingo is the 7th-highest scorer among Division II women (22.8 ppg).
• The Lady Jackets are 3rd in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (13.7).
• Here's an interesting stat: The Concord women are 15th in fewest fouls committed per game (14.6).

The Concord women earned a gutty 62-56 win at West Virginia State January 8th. Two days later, the Yellowjacket men took command early and ran away to a 109-78 victory in Fleming Hall.

Of course, you'll hear both games of tomorrow's doubleheader on the air on Classic Rock 102 The New River (that's 102.3 on your FM dial) and on-line at theriver102.com. The broadcast begins at 3:40 pm EST with the Lady Lion Preview show. The women's game starts at 4:00, with the men due to tip off at 6:00.