The Notre Dame College Falcons went into the ASRC at #2 West Liberty on Wednesday night and the Hilltoppers controlled the game from start to finish in a 105-88 win that improved them to 25-2 and 19-2 in the MEC. NDC falls to 15-12 and 12-9 in the MEC with a third straight loss.
NDC head coach Mark Richmond put it bluntly:
"Give credit to West Liberty they made us play their style all night, "Richmond mentioned. "They controlled the pace and tempo. We were't efficient enough offensively to make them consistently play against our set half court defense. We allowed them to make it a track meet and they don't lose very often on their home floor when that happens."
NDC would jump out to a quick 6-0 lead as Mike Sampson and John Godinez would each knock down a 3-pointer as the Falcons led at the 18:51 mark of the opening half. The Hilltoppers would score the next nine points as after a 3-pointer and basket by Victor Kovacevic it was 9-6 WLU. It was 24-16 in favor of West Lib when Daylin Lee knocked down a triple to cut the lead to five with 13:20 on the first half clock. After being down 12 (34-22) at the 9:29 mark the Falcons would go on a 7-0 run as they get a free throw by Lee, a jumper by Sampson, a pair of Jaedon Willis free throws, and a Willis jumper that made it 34-29 2:07 later. West Lib would stretch the lead out to double digits before a quick 4-0 NDC run made it 39-33 after a Sampson layup. The Hilltoppers would stretch the lead to 12 (53-41) at halftime. In the opening half NDC was led by Sampson who had 12 points and five rebounds, Lee added nine, and Crawford tallied seven. NDC shot 41 percent from the field and 42 percent (5-12) from the 3-point line in the opening stanza. They shot at a 80 percent clip (8-10) at the free throw line. The Falcons had eight assists and 12 turnovers in the half.
West Liberty was led in the opening 20 minutes by Pat Robinson with 12 and Bryce Butler with 11, Will Yoakum and Viktor Kovacevic each netted nine in the opening half. WLU shot 56 percent from the field in the half, 33 percent (5-15) from the 3-point line, and 67 percent (8-12) at the free throw line. Each team had 19 rebounds in the stanza. WLU had 13 assists and six turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
NDC got to within 12 early in the second half but a quick 4-0 Toppers run stretched the lead back to 16. NDC trailed 60-47 after a Lee free throw with 16:39 on the clock. After a quick WLU run a basket and free throw by Sampson made it 65-52 with 14:23 remaining. A quick 5-0 Hilltoppers run stretched the lead to 20 and after NDC got to within 15 at the 10:31 mark after another Lee triple the Hilltoppers would cruise to victory from there. A 10-0 run put this one out of reach in the next 1:30.
NDC was led by Sampson who was 7-14 from the field and 3-4 at the free throw line on his way to 18 points to go with seven rebounds, Lee was 5-11 from the field including four of six from the 3-point line as well as 4-6 at the free throw line to total 18 points to go with a team leading eight boards. Willis and Crawford each added 16 on the night as Crawford grabbed seven rebounds. NDC shot 43 percent as a team, 47 percent (9-19) from the 3-point line, and 75 percent (21-28) at the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 36-35. They had 12 assists and 22 turnovers in this one.
West Liberty, who celebrated senior night on Wednesday was led by MEC Player Of The Week Butler who had 28 points on 12-14 from the field on the day. Pat Robinson had 13 as did Yoakum. Both Marlon Moore and Zach Rasile had 10 as well. The Hilltoppers shot a sizzling 60 percent from the field, 36 percent (9-25) from the 3-point line, and 73 percent (16-22) at the free throw line.
Despite Wednesday's loss NDC secured the #5 seed in next week's Mountain East Conference Tournament at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Va.
NDC will be back in action Saturday with the regular season finale when they host Alderson Broaddus at Murphy Gym. Tip time is slated for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
Charleston 81 Glenville State 74
Fairmont State 93 West Virginia Wesleyan 78
Wheeling 85 Alderson Broaddus 82
West Virginia State 101 Concord 94 (OT)
Davis & Elkins 76 Frostburg State 68
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 19-2 (25-2)
West Virginia State 17-4 (22-6)
Charleston 17-4 (22-5)
Fairmont State 16-5 (21-5)
NDC 12-9 (15-12)
Concord 10-11 (13-14)
Glenville State 8-13 (12-14)
Alderson Broaddus 8-13 (11-15)
Wheeling 8-13 (9-18)
Davis & Elkins 5-16 (7-20)
Frostburg State 5-16 (7-20)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-20 (2-25)
Atlantic Region Rankings (Updated 2.23:)
West Liberty
Indiana (Pa)
Fairmont State
Cal (PA)
MercyHurst
Pitt-Johnstown
Millersville
West Virginia State
Virginia Union
Charleston
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