The Notre Dame College Falcons opened the home portion of the 2022-23 basketball season with a resounding 102-66 win as a balanced attack propelled them to the home opening win.
"It was a complete team effort tonight, "Head Coach Mark Richmond explained. "We got contributions from a lot of guys. We really competed and I was excited to get some other guys into the game. The more they play the more comfortable they will be. We knew coming in we had to slow this team down and have them play at our pace, and that is exactly what happened. To hold that team to what we did was a testament to how we played set defense. We did that and rebounded it, we contested the three really well also. Holding that team to 33 percent shooting is terrific. We flew around and helped each other tonight."
NDC saw 13 of the 14 players who played in this one get in the scoring column. Jaedon Willis paced the Falcons with 21 points as he was one of five players who scored in double figures. Javontae Jones was seven of eight from the field on his way to 14 points, DeAirius Barker stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Both Tyland Crawford and Kaleb Torrence each tallied 10. NDC shot 56 percent as a team, 45.5 percent (10-22) from the 3-point line, and 52 percent (12-23) from the free throw line. The Falcons had 23 assists and 16 turnovers in this one.
The Bobcats were led by Joshua Foote with 16, DJ Little scored 14, and Kalon Kimble added 12. As a team the Bobcats shot 33 percent from the field, 13.6 percent (3-22) from the 3-point line, and 75 percent (15-20) from the free throw line. They had 12 assists and 11 turnovers in the contest.
NDC jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Willis hit a jumper and then Jamarr Talbert would make a pair of layups. The lead would be nine (13-4) after a Crawford 3-pointer with 16:03 in the opening half. After two free throws by DJ Little the Bobcats trailed 22-20 with 7:53 in the opening stanza. The game would be knotted at 24 with 6:35 to go in the half. It would be tied three more times before Torrence knocked down a 3-ball to spark a 7-0 run to make it 37-30 NDC. The Falcons would take a 41-34 lead into the locker room.
Torrence led NDC with eight in the opening half, while Willis had seven, and Jones six. The Falcons shot 50 percent in the opening stanza, 30 percent (3-10) from the 3-point line, and 54.5 percent (6-11) at the free throw line. They were plus four on the boards (25-21.)
Richmond talked about the first half:
"We played ok in the first half. This team is still a work in progress."
Willis talked about the minutes that Torrence gave:
"Kaleb gave us a spark tonight. He was really good on the catch and shoot off drives. He made heady plays."
The Bobcats were led by Foote with nine in the opening half, while Sam Dorrisaint had seven. They shot 37.5 percent from the field, 2-13 from the 3-point line, and two of three at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
NDC came out of the locker room and scored six straight points as a Khalil Camara layup would make it 47-34 NDC with 17:36 to go. After a Jones layup NDC had a 20 point lead (70-50) halfway through the second half. After a quick 4-0 Bobcats run made it 70-54 NDC would remove all doubt as they would go on a 20-1 run that made it 90-55. NDC would cruise to victory after that.
Richmond talked about taking care of the ball:
"We did a much better job taking care of the ball in the second half. We had 11 turnovers in the first half and just five in the second, that was a big difference. We are starting to figure it out but we did a good job of that and 23 assists on 40 makes I was really pleased with tonight as well. We will continue to work on those things, we will be a little better each time and we always have to have great value for the ball."
Barker talked about his night:
"I am just trying to be the best point guard that I can for my team. We took care of the ball and everybody played well tonight."
He talked about Jones:
"We preach defense on this team and Javontae is a guy who is a key part of that. He is also really good in transition. So when all that happens I need to reward him at the other end."
Willis talked about his effort tonight:
"The rim does get bigger for me when I see one go in. My teammates just kept finding me and I got hot in the second half."
NDC will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Wheeling in the MEC Opener. Tip time is set for 4 PM at Murphy Gym.
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