Redshirt Sophomore DeAirius Barker, grad student Tyland Crawford and a pair of seniors in Jaedon Willis and Daylin Lee powered the NDC Falcons to an 87-70 win over the Frostburg State Bobcats on Senior day at Murphy Gymnasium. With the win NDC improved to 15-9 and 11-7 in the MEC. After the loss Frostburg falls to 8-16 and 4-14 in the MEC.
NDC scored 56 points in the second half in the victory. Jaedon Willis paced the Falcons with 27 points (21 in the second half,) DeAirius Barker added 21 points and 10 rebounds while Tyland Crawford (11 points) and Daylin Lee (nine) also contributed to the senior day win.
"We played really, really scrappy, we competed at a high level, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond said. "After two tough losses it took us a little while to get back in a rhythm but our guys really stuck with it. We kept fighting. We did a good job building a lead and finishing the game."
"Great win today, "Crawford mentioned. "We shared it on offense and we were successful in doing so. On the other end we locked down on defense especially when we needed to. As a grad senior, it felt really good getting this win today. Happy for Daylin and Jaedon too. They played very well today."
"It was important to win on senior day but just as important to win after dropping the last two, "Willis added. "My mindset was just to get a win today and cut this little skid we were on."
NDC got on the board first on a Lee dunk. Lee hit another jumper to tie the game at eight at the 14:41 mark of the first half. After a Barker jumper the game was knotted at 13 at the 10:54 mark of the opening stanza. Willis converted an old fashioned three-point play to put NDC up by three. NDC needed a spark in the opening half and Javontae Jones did just that as he scored the next three points from the free throw line.
Richmond talked about Jones:
"Javontae gave us a big lift in the first half being aggressive. Tyland was playing really well so I did not get him (Jones) in the game as much as I would have liked in the second half."
After a 7-0 run by the Bobcats capped by a Edwards 3-pointer FSU was back on top. Jones scored another layup and Lee got a hoop of his own to give NDC a 23-20 lead at the 6:32 mark of the first half. Crawford hit a 3-pointer and buckets by Jamarr Talbert and Barker before halftime would give NDC a 31-24 lead after the first stanza.
Richmond talked about the first half:
"We did a good job moving the ball in the first half. We didn't shoot it as well as we normally do. We got loose balls and we gang rebounded."
"We moved the ball well today, "Barker stated. "Everyone had good looks and I knocked them down."
In the opening half NDC got nine points from Lee while the trio of Barker, Willis, and Jones all had six. NDC shot 35 percent in the first half, went 2-11 from the 3-point line, and 9-13 at the free throw line in the opening stanza. They were 9-13 from the free throw line.
For the Bobcats Edwards led the way with eight, Murphy had seven, and Sean Brown tallied five. They shot 31 percent in the first half, 38 percent (3-8) from the 3-point line and 43 percent (3-7) from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
NDC came out of the locker room clicking on all cylinders as they have so many times this season. Willis explained that:
"We just had to stick with it. We got the looks we wanted in the first half they just didn't go in. We had better intensity and better focus to start the second half. We always make it a point to win the first media of the second half to set the tempo for the half."
Sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi would start the second half with a dunk off a Willis feed and then Willis drained a triple to force a Frostburg State timeout just 48 seconds into the second stanza as NDC led by 12 (36-24.) Willis hit two free throws but then a 6-0 run by FSU would trim the lead to 10 (40-30.) Barker hit a 3-pointer to briefly stem the tide but another 7-0 run by the Bobcats made it a six point game (43-37) with 14:24 to go. After the two teams traded buckets Crawford scored and then another triple by Barker stretched the lead back to double digits. It was 55-48 Falcons with 9:31 to go It was still a six point game (61-55) after a Sean Brown triple at the 7:41 mark. Barker would knock down another 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to double digits (66-56) at the 5:47 mark. After a Brown 3-pointer Barker would go on a personal 4-0 run. Willis went on a personal 10 point run as the Falcons secured the season sweep of the Bobcats.
Willis led the Falcons with 27 points as he was 4-7 from the 3-point line and 7-7 from the free throw line. He added three assists and a pair of steals. Barker had 21 points on 7-12 shooting including 3-7 from the 3-point line and went 4-5 at the free throw line and also secured 10 rebounds in getting a double-double.
Barker talked rebounding:
Rebounding is pretty simple for me. I let the big guys box out and help them as much as possible by flying to the ball."
Crawford also scored in double figures with 11 in the victory.
As a team NDC shot 48 percent from the field (60 percent in the second half,) they shoot 44 percent (10-23) from the 3-point line including 67 percent (8-12) in the second half. The Falcons shot at a 70 percent clip (21-30) from the free throw line. They won the rebounding battle 38-31.
Barker talked free throws and taking care of the ball:
"It is big for us to press the defense and make them make a decision, us guards need to make the right reads. it is important for us to to take care of the ball so we can get good shots.We work on free throws a lot so if you're going to get to the line 30 times you need to knock them down.
The Falcons ended the night with 16 assists and five turnovers as a team in the victory.
For the Bobcats Murphy led the way with 22 points and six rebounds. Richmond talked about a guy in Isaiah Sanders and the job he did on him while he was in the game:
"Isaiah did a good job guarding a bigger guy. Fronting the post and rebounding. He did a nice job filling in when we needed him."
Edwards added 20, while Brown knocked down four triples on his way to 16 points. As a team the Bobcats shot 46 percent from the field, 53 percent (8-15) from the 3-point line, and 60 percent (12-20) at the free throw line. They had 15 assists and 13 turnovers in the contest.
Richmond gave his final thoughts:
"We made a lot more plays and shots down the stretch. Their were some loose balls out there and we got a majority of them."
With the win on Saturday NDC equaled their win total from a season ago. NDC will be back in action Wednesday when they host Charleston. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
Fairmont State 94 Alderson Broaddus 83
Glenville State 98 Wheeling 95
West Liberty 127 Concord 79
West Virginia State 84 West Virginia Wesleyan 61
Charleston 105 Davis & Elkins 66
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 16-2 (21-3)
Fairmont State 14-4 (19-5)
Charleston 14-4 (17-5)
West Virginia State 11-7 (17-7)
NDC 11-7 (15-9)
Glenville State 10-8 (14-10)
Concord 9-9 (12-11)
Davis &Elkins 8-10 (14-10)
Alderson Broaddus 6-12 (8-15)
Frostburg State 4-14 (8-16)
Wheeling 3-15 (5-19)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-16 (2-21)
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