The Notre Dame College Falcons did not have the best first 20 minutes of action on Saturday but they were solid defensively all game-dominated the boards and used a big second half to win 73-61 at Murphy Gym. With the win NDC improves to 10-4 overall and 6-2 in the MEC. With the loss Wesleyan falls to 6-8 and 3-5 in the MEC.
Will Vorhees talked about the victory and figuring out the Wesleyan zone:
" Just a great team win tonight. It took us a little bit to figure out there zone but when we did we figured out a way to win down the stretch."
Coach Tim Koenig talked about what has been learned by the team this week:
"We are going to learn from each game win or lose. Do not expect this team to have any problems with enthusiasm or intensity now for the rest of the season.We played hard and smart for most of the game. Obviously from about the 11 minute mark on we played really good ball."
Vorhees paced four Falcons in double figures with 22 points and 11 rebounds in this one- Drew Scarberry knocked down four 3-pointer's on his way to 15 points- while Larenz Thurman and Isaiah Sanders tallied 11 points each. Thurman added four assists. The Falcons shot 49 percent in the contest- 38 percent (8-21) from the 3-point line- and- 81 percent (17-21) at the free throw line. The Falcons dominated the rebounding battle 43-18. They had 10 assists and 15 turnovers as a team.
Koenig talked about the rebounding and free throw difference:
" Did not know that those numbers were that drastic. Wesleyan did miss five or six wide open looks and this is a make or miss league. Obviously the 43 rebounds kept us in the game. 39 of the 58 Wesleyan shot attempts were 3-pointer's. It is hard to get to the free throw line when everything is on the perimeter."
Wesleyan was led by 13 points each from Clay Todd and Luka Petrovic- while Dusan Vicentic added 10. While Brondstedt was held to just six points on 2 of 12 shooting."
Koenig talked about the defense as a team especially on Brondstedt:
" We tried to press in the first half to no avail. The second half was a whole different story. We were in our press and instead of having to guard these guys for 26-27 seconds we only had to guard them for 16 or 17 seconds. Bruce (Hodges) was really good on the ball and changed the flow of the game. That was one less ball reversal we had to worry about with us pressing. They (Wesleyan) are a hard team to guard. They shoot a lot of three's and fortunately for us they missed some open ones today."
The Bobcats shot 40 percent as a team- 39 percent (15-39) from the three point line and did not attempt a free throw. The Bobcats had 14 assists and eight turnovers as a team.
Adam Horton would make a 3-ball to get the Bobcats on the board first before a 8-0 run capped by a Vorhees jumper would put the Falcons on top. Wesleyan would lead by nine (19-10) before a Thurman 3-pointer at the 9:49 mark of the opening half would cut the deficit to six (19-13.) The Bobcats would lead by 11 before a five point Scarberry run would cut the lead to six (28-22.) The Falcons would trail 32-27 heading into the locker room.
NDC was led by 10 points and seven rebounds from Vorhees in the first stanza- while Scarberry added five. NDC shot 42 percent in the first half- 25 percent (2-8) from the 3-point line- and- 71 percent (5-7) at the free throw line. The Falcons led on the boards 21-11 in the first half. They had four assists and 10 turnovers in the first half.
The Bobcats were led by Brondstedt and Edward Flohr with six points each in the opening stanza. They shot 42 percent (8-19) from the 3-point line. The Bobcats had eight assists and four turnovers in the first half.
The Bobcats would lead by 11 (40-29) at the 18:07 mark when the Falcons would turn up the intensity especially at the defensive end. At the 12:33 mark the Falcons would trail by five (50-45) when Halil Parks and Scarberry would spark a 13-0 run that made it 58-50 in favor of the home team. The Bobcats would score the next five before a pair of Sanders free throws and a big Vorhees jumper would stretch the lead back to seven.
Koenig talked about how big it was:
"That shot by Will in the corner over Brondstedt was big. That changed the game."
Thurman and Todd would trade 3-pointer's before Scarberry would knock down another for the Falcons. That gave them a 10 point lead with under two minutes to go. Vicentic would hit a 3-pointer- but a pair of free throws by Sanders and a Vorhees dunk in transition would seal the victory.
Scarberry talked about what the difference has been for him shooting the ball in the last couple games:
" I think the main difference has been my teammates getting me open and really executing the offense."
Sanders talked about the defense he and his teammates played:
" They are one of the bigger teams we have played. We didn't have angels so we had to help Will out on the glass which helped us a lot. I was guarding Brondstedt and I focused on pressuring him the whole game. I don't think he scored a point on me. He finished with six points but stopping him was important. Will was big for us keeping us in the game in the first half and Drew lit it up in the second half."
Hodges talked about the effort:
" We played harder than them. They came out and punched us in the mouth in the first half. We weren't gonna let that happen again in the second half. Big contributions from everyone and the bench was phenomenal."
Koenig talked about the game played by Vorhees:
" We tried to get the ball to Will as much as possible about 8-10 feet from the basket. They have more length and size than any team we have played this year. Our best offense at times tonight was to throw up a shot and go get the rebound.
NDC will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Shepherd. Tip time is set for 730 PM. You can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
Urbana 94 Glenville State 91
West Virginia State 102 Wheeling Jesuit 89
Fairmont State 93 Concord 83 (OT)
West Liberty 98 Charleston 89
Shepherd 80 Virginia Wise 79
MEC Standings:
Fairmont State 8-0 (11-3)
West Liberty 7-11 (11-2)
NDC 6-2 (10-4)
Concord 5-3 (9-4)
Shepherd 5-3 (9-5)
Charleston 4-4 (9-5)
West Virginia State 3-5 (6-8)
West Virginia Wesleyan 3-5 (6-8)
Virginia Wise 3-5 (5-8)
Glenville State 2-6 (7-7)
Urbana 2-6 (4-8)
Wheeling Jesuit 0-8 (1-13)
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