ATHENS, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Men's Basketball team fell on the road 97-83 to Concord on Wednesday evening.
 
FSU opened the game with junior Zane McCarty and redshirt freshman DJ Daniel getting a pair of steals, the latter driving in for a dunk, while freshman Mitch Finefrock then hit form deep for a quick 5-0 advantage. CU battled back to a 9-9 tie thanks to an and-one and a dunk, however sophomore Trey Simmons made a layup and Daniel converted at the line to get back to a four-point lead four minutes in.
 
Over the next three minutes, the sides traded baskets once again, as the Mountain Lions narrowly took their first lead off a three and a lay-in, while McCarty answered with a triple of his own for a 20-18 Bobcat lead. Five minutes went by with only four combined points coming from Concord splitting a trip at the line and McCarty nailing another trey before both offenses began to heat up.
 
With eight minutes to go in the half, CU hit a layup followed by a transition three, then McCarty made his third long-range effort and hit a mid-range jumper while Simmons got to the rim twice and also converted a pair of free throws to lead 34-29. The Mountain Lions made another triple followed by a couple freebies to pull even, however Simmons drove to the cup while a Daniel steal set him up for another lay-in before hitting a three himself, moving up 41-35 with two minutes to go. Concord got some late momentum with three mid-range jumpers to one Frostburg basket by redshirt sophomore Blake Burrows, as the Bobcats held on to a narrow 43-41 advantage.
 
CU came out with a strong defensive effort to begin the second half, as FSU's only points over the first three minutes came from Simmons at the line, while the hosts converted trip after trip on offense to move ahead 52-45. Simmons then got the first Bobcat field goal on another drive, while Daniel followed with one of his own and nailed from three before graduate Kyle Whippen got a steal that set up Simmons for a finish at the rim and a 54-54 tie.
 
Junior Vilius Slanina and Simmons traded buckets with the Mountain Lions over the next two minutes, with the latter's deep make again evening the score at 61-61. From that point, Concord locked down defensively, holding Frostburg to just one Daniel free throw over a six-minute stretch while pouring on their offense and surging ahead 80-62. Daniel finally broke the drought with a three, but CU came right back with seven straight to go up by 22. Simmons then took over the Bobcat offense, slamming home a dunk before hitting a jumper and a pair of threes, while Whippen got to the line to make things 91-77 with two minutes to go. Daniel added a pair of his own at the stripe, while Simmons and Whippen both had slams late on, with the Mountain Lions coming away 97-85 after a late three.
 
Simmons led all scorers with 35 points, as Daniel (22) and McCarty (11) joined him in double figures.
 
With the loss, Frostburg drops to 3-5 on the year, while Concord improves to 5-3. FSU will return to Bobcat Arena on Saturday, December 13 to face Glenville State at 4 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.