ATHENS, W.Va. – Freshman guard
Gyasi Powell had a career day with 34 points as Davis & Elkins charged back in the second half, ultimately dropping an 87-82 overtime decision to Concord on Saturday afternoon inside the Carter Center.
Trailing by 18 points with just over 17 minutes remaining in regulation, Davis & Elkins (3-7) roared back to take a 69-68 lead with 4:35 left.
Breland Walton converted a stickback layup with 22 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 77, missing the and-one free throw attempt, before a potential game-winning three from Malik Johnson rimmed out as time expired.
Concord (5-5) used an 8-2 spurt to pull ahead 85-80 in overtime and clamped down defensively to preserve the win. Powell logged 45 minutes for the Senators, posting his 34 points on 7-of-10 shooting from three along with eight rebounds, an assist and a steal. Walton had another double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds.
Ethan Heller paced the Mountain Lions with 25 points and five rebounds. Malik Johnson poured in 18 points and grabbed six boards in 43 minutes and Mohamed Bundu notched 12 points off the bench. Brandon Kennedy and David Mulumba recorded 10 markers each for CU.
While things looked out of reach for D&E well into the second half, the Senators chipped away with a lineup of seven players.
Kyle Leslie posted nine points and three rebounds and
Nate Vance finished with five points. Saturday's clash featured five ties and eight lead changes.
The Mountain Lions, who lead for over 36 minutes, limited D&E to one field goal over the final 1:23 of overtime.
Walton tied the game at 12 with a pair of free throws and back-to-back buckets from Leslie lifted the Senators ahead 17-12 with 12:30 to go in the first half. The Mountain Lions scored the next 15 points, capped by a triple from Mulumba, for a 27-17 edge at 7:22.
Powell took over from there, scoring 13 of the next 21 points in the game on his own, which included consecutive three-pointers at 4:16 and 3:47. Concord used a 9-2 surge to end the opening half and take a 44-32 lead into the locker room.
The Mountain Lions continued building on their momentum in the second half before the Senators countered. A layup from
Teemu Tumanoff started the comeback effort for D&E before Powell canned two more triples, slicing the deficit to 10 at 56-56.
Vance grabbed a rebound on one end and hit a jumper on the other to bring D&E back within single digits. Vance stepped into a three off a
Fable Burden III dish to make it 57-51 in favor of the hosts with 12:42 left.
Powell hit another pair of triples at 5:42 and 4:35 to push D&E ahead by one at 69-68. Powell finished with the most points by a D&E player this season, one more than Walton's 33 against West Virginia Wesleyan last time out.
Davis & Elkins is back on the court Monday, February 15 for a rescheduled road matchup at nearby Alderson Broaddus at 6:00 PM.
