Senior Night: Packed House

Pictured above, men’s basketball team getting recognized. 
Photo Courtesy of Tyler D’Angelo

Concord University’s men’s basketball team put on a show February 23. Students filled up the bleachers and helped provide that spark the team needed. The night was packed with significance as the men’s cross country team received their Mountain East Conference Championship rings and the university compiled a video to submit to the Today Show Al Rokerthon 3 Contest. Senior night couldn’t have gone any better for the university as the men stepped up and eliminated Charleston.

    The Concord University cheerleaders opened the night. They got the crowd involved as students who worked the game that night tossed free Concord University t-shirts into the stands. The seniors who were on the team came out with their escorts and were praised for the season, receiving tremendous recognition from the crowd.

    As the game opened, the Mountain Lions struggled. The team never gained a lead in the first half as Charleston locked them down. However, that didn’t let the Mountain Lions down. They went on a late push in the first half with a 5-0 run, closing out the quarter with a score of 36-30 at halftime with Charleston on top.

    As the second half opened, sophomore guard, Tommy Bolte, went on a scoring spree which propelled Concord to outscore Charleston by 19 points. Per the game recap on cumountainlions.com, “Bolte scored 17 of his game-high 29 points during the run and rattled off 15 of the first 20 points in the run.” With this run, Concord got the crowd behind them in a great way. Concord University student, Alyson Christian, said she felt a rush of school spirit. “The atmosphere was pretty cool. I felt like people were showing school spirit and enjoying a game for once. I felt really good about going to it and I felt like it’s the most fun I’ve had in a while,” she says.

    The Mountain Lions didn’t let off the gas. Charleston eventually chipped the lead down to 11 points, but Concord stepped up. The Mountain Lions accelerated to victory, beating Charleston by 23 points. With Concord’s emphatic win over Charleston, the near capacity crowd in the gym went crazy. Concord University graduate student, Chelsea Hollifield, said that the hype of the game was surely felt at the end. She says, “I think that the atmosphere was more hype towards the end when we were winning by quite a bit. The turn-out was awesome and the guys worked so hard to play at the collegiate level.” Not only Hollifield was excited, Concord University student, Cody DeLong, emphasized how students really got behind the team. “I felt like the student body was really into the game and highly supportive of the team. There was really good energy and I think it contributed to the momentum of the game to help us get fired up and win,” he says.

    Not only did the Mountain Lions earn the win against Charleston, but the men’s track team was recognized for their efforts in the fall of 2016. Cumointainlions.com explained how the Mountain Lions won their second straight MEC Championship. Concord beat West Virginia Wesleyan by a margin of seven points. They made history as they became the first team that qualified for the national championship meet where the team finished in fourth place at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship.

    Concord University also submitted a video to the Today Show Al Rokerthon 3 Contest. The student section that was present at the senior night game got together for a video shoot to send to Al Roker. Al Roker is visiting college campuses all across America where he is helping students break Guinness World Records. According to broadwayworld.com, “’Rokerthon 3: Storming Into the Madness’ will air this March on NBC’s TODAY.” The university is highly encouraging students to like, share, and tweet the video submission with the hashtag #ROKERTHON in hopes to bring Al Roker to the campus.

    Unfortunately, the Concord University men’s basketball team failed to beat UVa.Wise on Saturday, wrapping up their season. Their season record ended with 11 wins and 17 losses, while the MEC record ended with seven wins and 15 losses. Even though the Mountain Lions lost on Saturday, it is good to see the students get involved with the campus and show their support to the team.