The Notre Dame College Falcons held a Charleston team that was averaging 90 points a game to just 69 Saturday- and- came away with a 75-69 victory at Murphy Gym. Will Vorhees led the Falcons with 32 points and 12 rebounds- but it was the defense of Vorhees- Bruce Hodges- and- a flock of Falcons that spearheaded this victory.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about it:
"As I told you before our defense looks better with Bruce on the floor. It was a really good team effort- and- a good win. Our league is really good- and- Charleston is one of the best teams in our league. Obviously I was pleased with the win- but we need to clean a few things up. Obviously we did not want to turn the ball over like we did at the end- but it was nip and tuck all game long."
On what the team learned from the first meeting with Charleston:
" They played almost identical on defense. They switched some screen action and made some adjustments against Will in the second half but it was almost identical to the first meeting.
The Falcons (14-6 10-4 MEC) were led by 32 points- and- 12 rebounds from Vorhees- while Larenz Thurman added 17 points- five rebounds- and- three assists. Hodges added eight points- five assists- and- five rebounds. No rebound bigger then the offensive rebound that gave the Falcons an extra possession in the last minute of the contest.
Koenig talked about Hodges:
"Bruce made a play on that offensive rebound that showed up on the stat sheet tonight. Usually he is the guy who does the stuff that does not show up on the stat sheet. He cuts hard- he dives on the floor for loose balls- he sets screens. He is the ultimate glue guy."
On the lift that Sanders gave in his return:
" It is no coincidence that adding Isaiah to the mix- a guy who is a really good athlete who can help on the glass that we were a better defensive team today. It was a huge lift for us having him back."
NDC shot 49 percent as a team- 29 percent (4-14) from the 3-point line- and- 83 percent (19-23) from the free throw line. They had 13 assists and 13 turnovers as a team.
On the game plan to go right to Vorhees right out of the gate:
" We were going to go right to him. We were going to see how they played it. If they tried to guard him one on one we were going to keep going to him until they changed. When that happened we were going to go to other actions and get other guys shots. They decided they were going to take away Drew (Scarberry-) Renz (Thurman-) and- HP (Parks.) and not help. We will be happy to throw it into Will and live with our chances.
On shot selection and rebounding:
" I can only remember two shots where I cringed- in a 40 minute game thats pretty darn good. As for rebounding- Devon Robinson is one hell of a rebounder. Charleston is really hard to keep off the glass- they have lots of athletes. The guards really helped us out on the glass as well.
On Vorhees anchoring the defense and playing thru foul trouble:
"Will anchored the back end of our defense- he played thru foul trouble tonight- and- really did a good job on the glass both on offense and defense."
Charleston(13-7 8-6 MEC) was led by Drew Rackley with 17- Seth O'Neal tallied 11- and- Keith Williams-and- LaMont McManus netted 10. Robinson added eight points and a team leading 10 rebounds. They shot 36 percent as a team- 33 percent (9-27) from the 3-point line- and- 84 percent (16-19) at the free throw line. The Golden Eagles won the rebounding battle 36-35. They had 15 assists and 11 turnovers as a team.
Vorhees gave his thoughts after the win:
" My teammates did a great job again getting me easy baskets from penetration and dumping it off. They adjusted in the second half- and- we hit shots. We got contributions from everybody. It is nice having a player you can always rely on to make the other teams best player work his tail off to score- and- Bruce did it again tonight. We hit some free throws to seal it at the end but we gotta finish games better and smarter. That should have been a 15 point victory- great team win though.Renz was a beast as always."
Thurman talked about Vorhees and the rest of the team:
" Early on we saw that they were guarding Will one on one in the post- so we knew we could take advantage of that. He's the best player in the country! Bruce gives the opposing teams best player hell every night! He is the defensive stopper on this team and plays great d. We need that kind of defensive stopper on our team."
Hodges gave his insight:
" We wanted to get this win today it meant a lot. We fought- Will and Renz played amazing. They are just amazing young men."
In the early going it would be Charleston that jumped out to the slight 13-11 advantage at the first media time out of the contest. After another Charleston basket the Falcons would get a bucket and 3-pointer from Vorhees to get the lead back. The Falcons would hold a 23-22 edge halfway thru the opening half. Then with 9:28 to go in the half Isaiah Sanders would bring the crowd to its feet after an alley-oop from Hodges.
Hodges talked about it:
"Man oh man that alley-oop was crazy. It changed our momentum from there on out. It felt amazing to have Zay (Sanders) back out there. I feel like the lob was a good gift for him for getting back out there today."
Vorhees agreed:
"Great having Zay back today. We missed our brother on the floor- and- he had one of the best plays of the game."
Thurman talked about the energy Sanders brings on any given night:
" Zay's energy on the court is always on a high level and it's something we have missed since he has been out (injured.) After he caught the lob from Bruce- I knew that would get us going- and- send a message."
The Falcons would stretch the lead to eight after a pair of Vorhees free throws with 3:21 in the half. Charleston would battle back and it would be a 37-34 NDC lead at the half.
Vorhees led the Falcons with 20 in the opening half to go along with seven rebounds- while Thurman had five. NDC shot 48 percent as a team- 20 percent (1-5) from the 3-point line- and- 86 percent (6-7) at the free throw line. Each team had 19 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. The Falcons had eight assists and five turnovers as a team in the half.
The Golden Eagles were led by Rackley with nine- while Keith Williams had six. Charleston shot 36 percent as a team in the first half- 43 percent (6-14) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (4-5) from the free throw line. They had 10 assists and six turnovers as a team.
The teams would go back and forth in the second half in a game that saw two ties and 12 lead changes. Hodges would bury a 3-pointer for the Falcons to give them a four point lead (50-46) halfway thru the second half. After Charleston got to within four (56-52) the Falcons would go on a 7-0 run capped by a Vorhees 3-pointer that made it 63-52 in favor of the home team with 5:34 to go. Parks would knock down a 3-pointer after a Charleston free throw and NDC looked to be in command up 66-53 with 3:57 to go- but the Golden Eagles would not go quietly. O'Neal would hit a 3-pointer- but Thurman would answer with a pair of free throws. Rackley would knock down a 3-ball- and- Hodges would hit two free throws of his own. After a Parks steal and pair of Thurman free throws NDC led by 13 (72-59) with 2:21 to go. The full court pressure by the Golden Eagles would spark a 10-0 run after a pair of O'Neal free throws with 1:32 to go. After a missed Thurman 3-ball Hodges grabbed the offensive rebound. Thurman and Scarberry would seal the NDC win at the free throw line.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
West Virginia State 97 Urbana 85
Glenville State 86 Virginia Wise 84
West Virginia Wesleyan 66 Concord 65
West Liberty 96 Fairmont State 85
Wheeling Jesuit 78 Shepherd 72
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 11-1 (17-2)
Fairmont State 12-2 (15-5)
NDC 10-4 (14-6)
Concord 9-5 (14-6)
Charleston 8-6 (13-7)
West Virginia State 8-6 (11-9)
Shepherd 6-8 (10-10)
West Virginia Wesleyan 6-8 (9-11)
Virginia Wise 4-10 (6-13)
Glenville State 3-11 (8-12)
Urbana 3-11 (5-13)
Wheeling Jesuit 2-12 (3-17)
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