Mountain East Conference Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Shepherd Prepares for Year One After Title Game Appearance

A year after playing for a Division 2 National Championship, Shepherd University Football is preparing for a season as the team everyone is focused on beating. Shepherd and the rest of the Mountain East are ready for the new year.

Last December, the Shepherd University Rams played for a National Championship at the Division II level. Despite losing 34-7 to Northwest Missouri State University, the Rams are poised for another successful year. Shepherd finished last year’s season with 13 wins and only the 1 loss at the title game. This season, the Rams are picked to win the Mountain East Conference and are ranked 4^th in the American Football Coaches Association Poll to start the year.

Monte Carter is Shepherd’s football coach and said last years’ experience will help his team this year.

“We got a little better in some areas and we’re not going to be as good in some others, but you have that every year,” Carter said. “Our offensive line should be better, we have a great quarterback, you have the depth with our defense and they’re going to be pretty good too.”

Picked second in the Mountain East Conference preseason poll is the University of Charleston. Last year, Charleston finished with 10 wins and 2 losses. It was the first time ever the Golden Eagles made the Division 2 postseason tournament. UC returns eight starters on offense, a unit that averaged over 41 points per game last year. On the other side of the ball, Charleston’s defense gave up 27 points per game last year.

University of Charleston Head Coach Pat Kirkland says the key to his team’s good record last year and possible great season this year comes from leadership and hard work.

“Last year the one thing I was impressed with was they took ownership of the program and pride in what they did and we had a real tough, and similar to this year, first five games, we had Concord, Shepherd, Notre Dame and Glenville and it’s similar this year and puts a big emphasis on what we do in preseason camp, we’ve got to be good and stay healthy and that’s going to be a big part of it,” Kirkland said.

The rest of the Mountain East Conference Preseason Poll has Concord 3rd, Glenville State 4^th, Fairmont State and Notre Dame tied for 5^th, West Liberty 7^th, West Virginia State 8^th, West Virginia Wesleyan 9^th and Urbana and University of Virginia-Wise at 10^th.

Concord Basketball Wins Mountain East Title

The Concord Mountain Lions picked up their first Mountain East Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Sunday.

It was a tournament of upsets and drama as this year’s MEC Championship game was played between fourth seeded Concord and sixth seeded Notre Dame College. Concord defeated Notre Dame 70 to 64 at the Charleston Civic Center on Sunday.

It was the Mountain Lions 3^rd contest in three days including an upset of in the semifinals of Division II number one ranked West Liberty. Concord trailed by double digits on multiple occasions in the first half, but settled down in the second half, took care of the basketball and controlled the glass, out rebounding Notre Dame 43-38.

Senior Center Terry Hopewell was an all-tournament selection, finishing with 19 points and 13 rebounds Sunday. He also set the MEC tournament record with 41 rebounds in 3 games.

The Championship gives the 22-9 Mountain Lions an automatic birth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament. The tournament begins play Saturday March 12^th^.

Concord Looking to Repeat as MEC Champs

A year after finishing undefeated in the Mountain East Conference and advancing to the Division 2 National Semifinals, the Concord Mountain Lions were picked to repeat as conference champions this year.

The Mountain Lions started the season 1-1, with a 29-28 loss to West Liberty in the opener and a 27-10 win last week over Fairmont State. The Mountain Lions are ranked 21^st in the country. Fellow Mountain East Conference member Shepherd is ranked 20^th. Shepherd was picked to finish second in the conference. Concord University Head Coach Garin Justice said he feels his team shouldn’t lose another game this season.

“I think we can win every game we play, but that’s who I am, it’s who I am as a person,” Justice said. “But I know for us to do that and for us to do that, we have to bust our tales in practice and we’re starting to learn those habits and we have to make playing hard a habit within who we are, it’s got to be part of our DNA.”

Concord hits the road this weekend with a game at Urbana in Ohio. Urbana’s record is also 1-1. Although Urbana was picked to finish 11^th in the 11-team conference in the pre-season poll, Justice said playing at Urbana is always a challenge.

It’s hard to describe other than it’s kind of like a twilight zone, it’s a different place to play and I can’t, is it crowd? I don’t necessarily think so, is it place? I don’t necessarily think so, Is it the long bus ride? I don’t know,” Justice said. “There’s something different about it, there is a different feeling about it, so that’s why we have to create great energy, great focus and enthusiasm throughout the game.”

Glenville State and Shepherd lead the league with 2-0 records.

West Liberty Basketball Striving for National Success

A year after falling just one win short of a Division 2 National Championship, West Liberty Basketball is once again one of the best teams in the country.

The most dominant basketball team in the state doesn’t reside in Morgantown or Huntington. The West Liberty Hilltoppers are ranked number 1 in the Division 2 coaches’ poll and sit at 9-0. Their next game doesn’t come till January 3^rd against Concord. West Liberty advanced to the Division 2 title game last year before falling to the University of Central Missouri. Head coach and West Virginia native Jim Crutchfield said their success is predicated on a unique playing style that encourages high scoring affairs.

“You know I’ve been at this a while and recruited for a long time and I’ve never had a kid sit in front of me and say coach I’m more of a slow-down type of guy, they all think they want to play in this system, but it’s not easy, if it were easy everyone would be doing it.,” Crutchfield said.

West Liberty receives more attention on a national scale than they do in the state, but Crutchfield said he’d rather receive little hype or attention from either. He likes it better when his team can sneak up on the opponent, which he says doesn’t often happen when you’re ranked number 1 in the country.

“I’ve always felt like I personally function better as an underdog, seems to bring out the best in me and now we’re all the sudden in this position where we’re supposed to win, you’re supposed to win the league or supposed to win each game,” Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield is 278-49 in 11 seasons in West Liberty. He says they try not to think about what a national championship could mean for the program, state or the university.

“It does mean something, but that kind of pressure we don’t throw out there to our team or our players that we have to win cause it would be great for everybody, we try to keep them grounded for the next game,” Crutchfield said.

Despite their dominance the Hilltoppers came up short in last years Mid East Conference Tournament to the University of Charleston.

Mountain East Conference Tournament to Stay in Charleston

A new agreement will keep the Mountain East Conference’s annual basketball tournaments in Charleston through 2017.

The agreement between the City of Charleston, the Charleston Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the Charleston Civics Center will keep both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in the capital city for the next three years.

MEC Commissioner Reid Amos said in a release the tournament had a successful inaugural year and the agreement to stay in Charleston allows the conference to continue to build on that positive momentum.

During the Mountain East Conference’s first season last year, three men’s and three women’s teams earned bids to the NCAA Division II Tournament. West Liberty’s men’s team played for the national championship.

The conference consists of 12 schools in three states and sponsors 17 championships.

Concord University Earns Home Field Playoff Advantage

The Concord University Football program ended the regular season undefeated, giving them a home field advantage for their first playoff game.

The Mountain Lions earned that spot after winning the Mountain East Conference title, when they ousted Shepherd University. This is Concord’s second playoff berth in four years. Concord will play the winner of the game between West Chester University and Slippery Rock University. Both of those teams will travel to West Virginia from Pennsylvania.

According university press release, tickets can only be purchased at the ticket booth on game day. Given that the game is an NCAA playoff game, season passes won’t be accepted.

Concord students will be admitted free with a valid student ID.

The game will take place at Callaghan Stadium on the Concord University campus in Athens. Tickets for the game can be purchased at the ticket booth on game day. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $5 for students and children under the age of 12 are admitted free.

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 29, 2014.