To say that the Notre Dame College Falcons did not play their best basketball in the first half on Wednesday would be an understatement.
"We found a way to win on the road when we didn't have our best effort, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond mentioned. The Falcons came away with a 69-63 win as they scored 50 points in the second half on Wednesday night at the Rockefeller Center in Buckhanon, West Virginia.
"It was ugly but we got it done, "NDC guard Gbolohan Adio stated.
"Tough game today, we didn't play very well but found a way to get it done, "senior Jaedon Willis said.
"Not pretty but we will take it, "grad student Tyland Crawford added.
Early in the week Richmond said that he wanted to see how this team would handle three games in a week with about a month until the MEC Tournament. Games like the one on the road on Wednesday could be needed to get to where the Falcons want to go. With the win NDC moved to 14-7 on the year and 10-5 in the MEC. NDC now sits all alone in fourth place in the conference. The Bobcats after Wednesday's loss fall to 2-17 and 2-13 in the MEC.
NDC was paced by Willis who scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half and also added seven rebounds. Sophomore Jamarr Talbert knocked down four 3-pointer's and scored 14 points, while Adio added 11. With Wednesday's win NDC has the most road wins as a team (6) since going 8-5 away from Murphy Gym in the 2018-19 season.
After Tyler Slone scored the first two points of the game Crawford knocked down a 3-pointer to put NDC on top 3-2. A Talbert 3-pointer at the 15:37 mark gave NDC a 6-4 advantage. The Bobcats would run off the next five points before a Willis triple tied the game at nine with 13:37 in the opening stanza. Antony Craven hit a jumper and a triple to put the Bobcats up five before NDC went on a 6-0 run that included a Crawford layup, a dunk by Adio and Isaiah Sanders made a layup to make it 15-14 NDC at the 9:33 mark of the first half. WVWC went on a 7-0 run and after a pair of free throws by Darius Green they led 21-15. Crawford hit a jumper to pull NDC within four but Kabe Ellis drained a triple and it was 24-17 Bobcats with 2:37 until halftime. Wesleyan would ultimately take a nine point lead (28-19) into the intermission.
Crawford led NDC with seven in the first half. He talked about it:
"I felt good today and made some shots in the first half. Missed some easy ones but I kept attacking."
Willis had five for NDC in the opening stanza. As a team NDC shot 32 percent in the opening half, 30 percent (3-10) from the 3-point line and they did not make a trip to the free throw line in the opening stanza. NDC had six assists and 11 turnovers in the opening half.
The Bobcats were led by Craven with 13 and Slone with five in the first half. As a team they shot 37.9 percent from the field, 21.4 percent (3-14) from the 3-point line and 75 percent (3-4) at the free throw line. The Bobcats were +2 (19-17) on the glass in the first half, they had four assists and seven turnovers.
NDC came out a different team to start the second half. After trailing by 10 (32-22) Willis hit a jumper and then picked up an offensive rebound and dished off to Obinna Ugwuakazi for the layup to trim the Bobcats lead to six (32-26.) WVWC would again lead by 10 but the same duo of Ugwuakazi and Willis provided five more points as a Willis 3-ball cut the WVWC lead to 38-33 at the 15:32 mark. NDC would knot the game at 45 on a Talbert jumper with 8:36 to go. Anderson hit a three for the Bobcats, then NDC got a pair of free throws from Jevontae Jones after a steal. Then Willis drained a triple to put NDC on top (50-48) with 6:49 to go. The Bobcats had an answer as Anderson hit a 3-ball. The lead would be short-lived though as Adio gave NDC the lead back, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. WVWC would tie it at 53 on a Green layup with 5:28 to go. NDC would regain the lead as Daylin Lee split a pair of free throws. After a defensive stop Willis would knock down a jumper to make it a three point lead. After a missed WVWC triple try Talbert would drain a 3-ball from NBA range to make it a six point lead (59-53) with 3:16 to go. After Anderson pulled Wesleyan within four Talbert missed a triple but Willis grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. He drained both free throws to give NDC a 61-55 lead with 2:17 to go. NDC would do enough down the stretch at the free throw line to come away with the six point win and season sweep of the Bobcats.
Richmond gave these thoughts:
"Give credit to West Virginia Wesleyan. They did a great job of being physical and taking us out of our rythm. Our defense kept us in the game and we stuck with it offensively until we could find some answers. "
NDC was paced by Willis who was 6-12 from the field, 3-7 from the 3-point line and 6-6 at the free throw line. He added seven rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes.
He gave these thoughts:
"We showed a lot of resolve in the second half. Hopefully we can correct our mistakes and come out faster on Saturday."
Talbert was 5-9 from the field including going 4-7 from the 3-point line on his way to 14 points. Adio went 6-6 from the free throw line as he scored 11.
"Our start was pretty bad but the intensity of our defense is what got us over the top, "he said.
NDC shot 47.6 percent from the field, 47.4 percent (9-19) from the 3-point line, and 83.3 percent (20-24) at the free throw line. This included shooting 71 percent (12-17) from the field, 67 percent (6-9) from the 3-point line and 83 percent (20-24) from the free throw line in the second half. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 33-27 as they won the glass 16-8 in the second stanza. They had 16 assists and 19 turnovers in the contest.
The Bobcats were paced by Craven who went 10-18 from the floor, 1-2 from the 3-point line and 2-2 from the free throw line on his way to 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists as he played all 40 minutes.Anderson went 6-10 from the field and 3-5 from the 3-point line on his way to 15 points. Green went 5-15 from the field and 1-8 from the 3-point line as well as 2-5 at the free throw line. He had 13 points and nine rebounds. As a team the Bobcats shot 42,4 percent from the field, 26.9 percent (7-26) from the 3-point line, and 50 percent (6-12) at the free throw line. They had 10 assists and 13 turnovers in the contest.
NDC will be back in action Saturday when Davis & Elkins comes to South Euclid. Tip time is set for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
Glenville State 85 Fairmont State 84 (OT)
Charleston 86 Wheeling 83
West Liberty 102 West Virginia State 97
Davis & Elkins 100 Alderson Broaddus 98 (2 OT)
Concord 81 Frostburg State 60
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 13-2 (18-3)
Charleston 12-3 (15-6)
Fairmont State 11-4 (16-5)
NDC 10-5 (14-7)
West Virginia State 9-6 (15-6)
Glenville State 9-6 (13-8)
Concord 8-7 (11-9)
Davis & Elkins 6-9 (12-9)
Alderson Broaddus 5-10 (7-13)
Wheeling 3-12 (5-16)
Frostburg State 2-13 (6-15)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-13 (2-17)
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