The Notre Dame College Falcons and Wheeling University Cardinals did battle inside Murphy Gymnasium on Wednesday night. NDC snapped a three game losing streak with a 82-64 win in a game that featured five ties and 11 lead changes. With the loss Wheeling falls to 5-12 and 4-7 in the MEC. NDC improves to 10-7 and 7-4 in the conference after the win.
NDC Head Coach Mark Richmond was pleased with his team postgame:
" When you out rebound the other team and have less turnovers that is a recipe for success, "Richmond mentioned.
He continued:
"We have been talking to our team about getting stops on defense and that leading to offense. That was the case tonight as we got some easy ones in transition, We also battled on the boards, we gave up 14 on the offensive end which is entirely too many but we won the rebounding battle 40-36.
The game would go back and forth in the early going as it would see three ties before a 5-0 Wheeling run gave the Cardinals a 12-7 lead. That lead would be 15-9 after a Jarrett Haines 3-pointer. NDC would go on a 7-0 run as Willis hit a 3-pointer, Tyland Crawford made a layup, and then Willis would put the Falcons on top with a layup of his own that made it 16-15 with 11:57 in the opening stanza. The Cardinals would score the next six points but the Falcons would again have an answer. Willis hit a 3-pointer, Sam Jackson made a layup, Jamarr Talbert had a jam after a steal, and Willis hit another 3-pointer to cap off the 10-0 run that made it 26-21 with seven minutes left in the opening half.
Willis talked about his offense tonight:
" I got some good looks early, then Mike (Sampson) and Tyland (Crawford) got some easy ones and they have to respect them, "Willis explained. I saw a few go in and then the basket got bigger. I've been trying to get better at not forcing shots and just giving what they give me."
Wheeling took the lead 30-28 after a Brent Price 3-pointer at the 3:08 mark of the half. Willis then knocked down another 3-ball to give NDC the lead back. Jay Gentry hit a 3-pointer and John Korte scored to make it a four point game (35-31) with 54 seconds in the half. NDC would close the half on a 5-0 run as Gbolohan Adio hit a 3-pointer and then Obinna Ugwuakazi made a layup right before halftime to take a 36-35 lead into the locker room.
Richmond talked about how happy he is for Ugwuakazi:
"Obi is a high energy guy that brings us energy day in and day out. He provided a lift for us off the bench today. I am really proud of him as he is a guy who puts in the time and work. He is a guy that will have success down the road just because of all the time and work he has put in."
NDC was led by Willis with 14 points in the opening half, while Crawford added six. As a team the Falcons shot 41 percent from the field, 50 percent (6-12) from the 3-point line, and were a perfect two of two at the free throw line.
Wheeling was led by 10 points from Price, while Jordan Reid had eight and Jarrett Haines scored seven. The Cardinals shot 42 percent from the field and 39 percent (5-13) from the 3-point line in the first 20 minutes, while they shot 80 percent (4-5) from the free throw line. They also led on the glass 20-18 in the first 20 minutes.
Reid started the second half with an old fashioned three-point play that made it 37-36 but NDC had a response. Willis would score four points before a Jamarr Talbert jumper and a DeAirius Barker layup made it 44-39 NDC. After a Reid layup Barker knocked down a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to six (47-41) at the 14:31 mark.
Richmond talked about Barker:
"DeAirius is a guy who has a really high basketball IQ. He sees things on the floor that most freshman don't see. He turned down some shots in this one but as he continues to grow and get more minutes he won't turn those down."
It was a one point game as Gentry pulled the Cardinals within 47-46. Crawford made a jumper and then Crawford got a steal that led to a Mike Sampson dunk.
Sampson talked about that:
"That dunk really got me hyped. After that dunk I really couldn't do anything wrong," Sampson said.
NDC would stretch the lead to double digits after A Willis 3-pointer, a layup by Sampson, and then a Willis lay in. Sampson made it 60-48 with a put back off of a rebound at the 7:08 mark. The lead was cut to eight (62-54) but Sampson had another three-point play and Willis drilled a triple. The Falcons would cruise to victory the rest of the way.
In the game NDC was led by Willis who knocked down seven triples on his way to 28 points, Sampson added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Crawford netted 10 points,grabbed eight rebounds, and had a pair of steals. The Falcons shot 46 percent as a team, 42 percent (10-24) from the 3-point line, and 86 percent (12-14) from the free throw line. They had 17 assists and nine turnovers in the contest.
Wheeling was paced by Jordan Reid who had 26 points in the contest.
Richmond talked about him:
"He is a hard guard and one of the more unique players in our league at six foot two. He is as good going right as anyone in our league. We tried to force him left as much as we could. We had to guard as a group."
Price also scored in double figures with 10, and Jay Gentry added nine. As a team the Cardinals shot 39 percent from the field, 24 percent (5-21) from the 3-point line, and 88 percent (7-8) at the free throw line. They had eight assists and 11 turnovers in the contest.
Willis talked about the defense NDC played tonight:
" I feel like we play good defense every game but tonight we did a better job rebounding. We made State (West Virginia State,) Charleston, and Fairmont work for every basket the last few games as well. They haven't been putting putting up crazy numbers or anything."
Sampson talked about Ugwuakazi:
"Shout out to Obi. Credit to him, he gave us a huge spark. We really stayed together as a team tonight,"Sampson explained.
Sampson gave his final thought:
"We had a little trouble closing out halves the last three games so we definitely wanted to notch it tonight."
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Phillipi, West Va. to face Alderson Broaddus. Tip time is slated for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
Charleston 99 Concord 71
West Liberty 107 Alderson Broaddus 70
West Virginia State 88 Glenville State 79
Frostburg State 76 West Virginia Wesleyan 67
Fairmont State 93 Davis & Elkins 62
MEC Standings:
Charleston 8-1 (12-2)
West Liberty 9-2 (15-2)
Fairmont State 9-2 (14-2)
West Virginia State 7-3 (12-5)
NDC 7-4 (10-7)
Alderson Broaddus 4-6 (7-7)
Concord 4-7 (6-10)
Frostburg State 4-7 (6-11)
Wheeling 4-7 (5-12)
Glenville State 3-7 (6-8)
Davis & Elkins 3-7 (5-10)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-10 (2-15)
Comments