By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CONCORD — With his team leading by three points with less than 50 seconds on the clock, Carson’s Jonah Drye stared at an open 3-pointer from the right side.

Whoa or go?

If you make it, it’s the dagger, but what if you miss? If you miss, a lot of bad things might happen.

Drye didn’t hesitate. He didn’t miss.

When Drye drilled that shot — nothing but net — Carson was headed to another South Piedmont Conference road victory. Carson beat the Spiders 65-59 in an epic South Piedmont Conference game at Rimer Gym on Friday.

“The first time we played Concord early in the season, maybe we were a little surprised that we were ahead of them late in the game,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “We got conservative, tried to stall, and they came back and beat us. We’ve talked about it. Guys knew that if we were in that position tonight, we were going to stay aggressive no matter what. We were going to go. If you’ve got a great look, take the shot. Jonah had a great look. He took it, and he made it.”

Carson had beaten a frantic press by the scrambling Spiders when Drye got his chance.

Carson’s recent win at Northwest Cabarrus was huge for the program, and Friday’s road win was at least equal to it. Carson had lost seven times in a row to the Spiders, and several of them were absolute thrashings. The last time Carson had beaten Concord was in 2017-18 when a Cougar team with Jamarius Hairston, Jailen Williams, Owen White, Cole Perry and Cameron Prugh in the lineup, was beating almost everyone.

“The best thing about this win is we lost the lead late, but then we responded with big shots and key stops,” Perry said. “We did a good job defensively against (6-foot-7) Jeremiah Howard and we won against a really tough team.”

Carson, with three freshmen playing key roles, is a factor in the SPC ahead of schedule and has won seven straight overall and four straight in the SPC after starting 0-4. Central Cabarrus isn’t human, but Carson should be able to compete with everyone else in the league.

Carson (10-5, 4-4) led most of the way against the Spiders. Carson was in front 28-21 after a grinding, physical first half and was up by eight points going to the fourth quarter.

Concord (9-7, 6-2) ramped up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and also started making 3-point shots. As the clock moved under three minutes, Concord had not only caught the Cougars, the Spiders had taken a 52-50 lead.

But that’s when Carson had a five-point offensive possession. Freshman Drew Neve made a 3-pointer, as an official blew a whistle in response to the jostling taking place for rebounding position. Carson got the call, got the ball out of bounds, and freshman Josh Mills made a contested shot with his left hand. Now the Cougars led 55-52.

Drye’s ice-water 3-pointer and clutch free throws by several Cougars finished off the Spiders.

Drye made four 3-pointers and scored 17. Neve scored 14. Colin Ball, who made the pass on Neve’s game-changing 3-pointer, had nine points and seven rebounds. He had a terrific game defensively and on the boards.

Perry had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds. Mills had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Carson   18    10    17    20   — 65

Concord 11    10     16   2      — 59

CARSON — Drye 17, Perry 15, Neve 14, Mills 10, Ball 9.

CONCORD — Judah Freeman 13, Jadah Freeman 11, Howard 11, Rushmeyer 8, Coleman 8, Reid 6, Crowder 2.