It was an entertaining night in South Euclid on the campus of Notre Dame College on Monday night in the Falcons 116-60 drubbing of Penn St.Fayette. The Falcons set the program record for assists in a game (35,) field goal percentage in the second half this season (68 percent,) most 3-pointer's made this season (16,) and Jamarr Talbert tied for second in program history with several players with eight 3-pointer's made. The 116 points scored as a team was third most in program history. Ultimately NDC saw six players score in double figures. Talbert paced NDC with 24, Kaleb Torrence came off the bench to score a career high 22 to go along with six assists, Tyland Crawford added 14 points to go with eight rebounds, while the trio of Obinna Ugwuakazi, Gbolahan Adio, and Jaedon Willis tallied 11. Willis and Adio each dished out seven assists to lead the squad. NDC improved to 13-7 and 9-5 in the MEC with a fifth straight victory. PSUF fell to 10-12 on the year.
NDC got off to a slow start in this one as at the 10:47 mark of the first half the game was tied at 15. "We challenged our guys early in this week, I thought we needed three games in a week to prepare us for the MEC Tournament, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond stated. "It is more mental than physical. I am not sure we were 100 percent ready to play coming off an emotional win at Glenville State on Saturday. It took us a little time to get into it."
""We didn't start the game the way we wanted to but after a little while we got rolling, " Adio explained."
Talbert hit a 3-pointer to give NDC the lead, one of his eight on the night. After two Torrence free throws Talbert hit back to back triples and the Falcons were off and running.
"It was a good win. We did what we knew we could do and will continue to do, protect our home court, "Talbert said. "I got hot early and the rim kept getting bigger. My teammates continued to find me and I continued to shoot. A great team win tonight."
NDC would open a 19 point lead (36-17) as Javontae Jones hit two free throws with 3:40 in the opening half. The Falcons would take a 22 point lead (48-26) into the locker room.
NDC shot 45.7 percent in the opening half, 40 percent (8-20) from the 3-point line, and 80 percent (8-10) at the free throw line. Talbert made five three's in the opening half on his way to 15 points, while Craword added 11. NDC had 14 assists and four turnovers in the first half.
The Nittany Lions got seven from Torrian Jenkins in the first half while both Dominic Boring and Xavier Boyd added six. They shot 34.4 percent from the floor, 1-8 from the 3-point line and 75 percent (3-4) from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. They had three assists and eight turnovers in the stanza.
Richmond had this to say about the first half:
"We started to play well late in the first half and took off from there. We shot the ball well from the perimeter tonight."
The second half was all NDC as they led by as many as 60 in this one. The game ended with three consecutive dunks by Kameron Taylor that got Murphy Gym on its feet. NDC saw all 12 players who saw action score in this one.
"It's always great when everybody plays and gets some recognition and that's what happened tonight, "grad student Tyland Crawford said. "Some guys were banged up but we had GB (Adio) come back (after a minor injury) and looking like his old self. This was a mental game. Coach wanted to test us this week scheduling three games for us to prepare for March and we responded well tonight. Hope to continue this momentum into Wednesday."
NDC saw Talbert go 8 of 13 from the 3-point line on his way to 24 points in 28 minutes. Richmond talked about him:
"That's what we brought him here to do. Jamarr is a guy that is super talented. He can shoot it from the perimeter, he's a great athlete, he's a guy that needs to continue to progress. He got off to a late start as he was a little banged up last year. He had some good games as a freshman. Moving into this year he's gotten better and better, continued to improve, he's a guy we need to play well. I was proud to see him shoot the ball well tonight.
Torrence was eight of 12 from the floor and four of six from the 3-point line on his way to a career high 22 points in 26 minutes. His six assists were also a career high and he also added six rebounds. Crawford went 4-7 from the field, 5-6 from the free throw line as he scored 14 points to go with eight rebounds in 18 minutes. Isaiah Sanders led the team with nine rebounds on the night. Willis scored 11 and dished out seven assists in 19 minutes. Adio had 11 points, a career high seven assists and hauled in five rebounds in 21 minutes. Ugwuakazi added 11 to go along with four boards.
As a team NDC shot 57.9 percent from the field, 44.4 percent (16-36) from the 3-point line, and 80 percent (12-15) from the free throw line. The Falcons dominated the glass 49-25, including crushing PSUF 28-6 on the boards in the second half.
Richmond talked about that:
"We did a better job of rebounding in the second half. I think we were only +2 in the first half. We got a bunch of second shots in the second half. When we rebound well we are pretty dangerous. When we are getting stops and out in transition we are a pretty dangerous team.
NDC had 35 assists and just nine turnovers. Richmond gave his thoughts:
"I was really pleased with the 35 assists and nine turnovers tonight."
Adio agreed:
"We did a really good job of moving the ball tonight. That has been our emphasis in the last couple weeks, that's when we play our best basketball."
Fayette was led by Boring with 16, Boyd added 14, and Jenkins tallied 13 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. As a team the Nittany Lions shot 37.9 percent from the floor, 11.8 percent (2-17) from the 3-point line and 66.7 percent (8-12) from the free throw line. They had 12 assists and 12 turnovers as a team.
Adio talked about being out there tonight:
"It was good to finally be out there with my guys. Definielty needed this game to get my legs rolling. Just excited to make a big run in the tournament."
The Falcons finished this one with the highlight dunks by Taylor. All three of them coming in the last seven minutes of action.
NDC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Buckhanon to take on West Virginia Wesleyan. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 12-2 (17-3)
Fairmont State 11-3 (16-4)
Charleston 11-3 (14-6)
West Virginia State 9-5 (15-5)
NDC 9-5 (13-7)
Glenville State 8-6 (12-8)
Concord 7-7 (10-9)
Davis & Elkins 5-9 (11-9)
Alderson Broaddus 5-9 (7-12)
Wheeling 3-11 (5-15)
Frostburg State 2-12 (6-14)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-12 (2-16)
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