The timing of the first regional rankings were far from ideal for the Notre Dame College Falcons. Coming off a 86-78 loss at Lake Erie on Saturday the Falcons were not in the top eight. As Falcons red-shirt senior Angelo Cugini stated sometimes that's what you need.
" The region rankings don't really mean anything until the end of the season. You have to pay attention to them but the only ones that matter are the rankings that come out in March. Sometimes you have to have a loss to get punched in the jaw and learn from it like we did against Lake Erie on Saturday. My belief is really this is just a hiccup in the road for this team as we have 16 games to play all in conference the rest of the season." Cugini said."
Senior Dan Atcheson agreed with Cugini and added his insight:
" It was expected that we would drop out of the top eight after the loss to Lake Erie on Saturday. As Angelo stated sometimes you need a teaching moment in the season and to have a bad loss (like we did on Saturday) to get that bad taste in your mouth. It is no secret how good our conference is. Having three of the top four teams in the region rankings bodes well for us. Our league is so good and we have 16 conference games to go to finish out the season. We have proven how good we are as we beat Concord handily earlier in the season. We were within a few possessions against West Lib as well. We will get a crack at all three of those top four teams and we will be ready. How tough this conference is will really help us as well." Atcheson mentioned."
Freshman Kam Harris gave his thoughts on the matter:
" For me it is very simple. We have to play every game like it is a playoff game. If we win every game the rest of the way we should be top five because of how good are league is. If we do what we are capable of we will be the first team ever in the history of the school to make the tournament. As Angelo and Dan both stated the loss to Lake Erie was a teaching moment for all of us. We have proven how good we are when we have been clicking on all cylinders when we beat Concord on the road and have had some other big wins this season as well." Harris added."
Regional Rankings Released January 7th (Top Eight Qualify:)
1. Indiana (PA) 13-0
2. West Liberty 9-2
3. Fairmont State 9-3
4. Concord 9-2
5. Shippensburg 12-3
6. Virginia State 10-3
7. East Stroudsburg 9-4
8. Lincoln (PA) 11-4
9. Pitt-Johnstown 9-4
10. Chowan 10-1
(tie 10.) Mercyhurst 8-3
Receiving Votes:
NDC 4
Slippery Rock 3
West Chester 3
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