The Notre Dame College Falcons dug themselves a first half hole, got themselves to within two possessions with 15 seconds to go, but fell 93-85 to the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets Wednesday night at Lester Raines Walker Johnson Arena. With the loss NDC falls to 0-2 on the season, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 2-1 on the campaign.
Coach Mark Richmond gave his thoughts after this one:
" We're playing hard but we're not playing smart right now. We spend hours scouting our opponent but we're yet to execute our game plan,"Richmond explained.
NDC was paced by 18 points from Tyland Crawford- Jordan Roland netted 17- Jordan Burton notched 16- John Godinez provided a spark off the bench with 12- and- Michael Sampson just missed a double-double with 11 points- and- nine rebounds.
Glen Abram led the Yellow Jackets with 31 points- Jeremiah Moore tallied 17 to go along with nine rebounds- Gus Stone scored 12- Anthony Pittman added 11 and 12 rebounds- while Treohn Watkins also tallied 11.
The Falcons had a four point lead early, and took a 9-8 lead into the first media timeout. Abram would hit four 3-pointer's while both Watkins and Pittman had a layup during a 13-0 run that gave WVSU a 21-9 lead. NDC got to within eight (27-19) after a jumper by Crawford. WVSU led by 17 before Burton was fouled on a 3-point attempt and drained all three free throws to cut the lead to 49-35 at the break. NDC shot 48 percent from the field in the opening half, but just went 1-8 from the 3-point line. They shot at a 86 percent clip (12-14) from the free throw line in the opening stanza. NDC also had five assists- and- 11 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
WVSU got seven 3-pointers and 27 points from Abram in the first half. Pittman added seven of his own. They shot 45 percent as a team in the opening stanza- 46 percent (10-22) from the 3-point line- and- 56 percent (5-9) from the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets had 10 assists- and- just three turnovers in the opening half.
WVSU would extend the lead to 20 (66-46) after a Stone layup at the 12:53 mark. After a Godinez layup for NDC at the 9:01 mark the Falcons were within 12 (72-60.) NDC would get the lead down to 10 at the 5:33 mark after a Roland 3-pointer. Down 90-76 with 2:21 to go the Falcons tried to mount another comeback. Roland- Sampson- and- Crawford would all convert layups and it was a eight game (90-82) with 53 ticks on the clock. After Stone spit a pair of free throws a Crawford triple made it 91-85 with 25 seconds remaining. That was as close as the Falcons would get as the Yellow Jackets iced the game at the free throw line.
For the game the Falcons shot 49 percent from the field- 27 percent (7-26) from the 3-point line- and- 78 percent (18-23) from the free throw line. The Falcons had 13 assists- and- 17 turnovers in the contest.
The Yellow Jackets shot 44 percent as a team- 42 percent (14-33) from the 3-point line- and- 68 percent (19-28) from the free throw line. WVSU won the rebounding battle 39-37. They had 13 assists- and- 11 turnovers in the contest.
Roland gave his thoughts after the contest:
" We competed all night, but we have to clean up our turnovers, and have to take scouting more seriously, Roland said."
Crawford agreed:
" Like Jordan said we cwompeted all night but we need to do the little things better like following scouting, limiting our turnovers, and rebounding the ball better, Crawford stated."
Richmond gave the final thoughts on this one:
" You have to give Abram some credit for making some hard shots but we allowed him to get going. Offensively, we had way too many turnovers in the half court, We did a solid a job of breaking the press and attacking but then we had to execute against their set defense and we just threw them the ball away too many times. We have to pass the ball better and on time."
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they open the home slate with the University of Charleston. Tip time is set for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
West Liberty 96 Fairmont State 84
Glenville State 90 Davis & Elkins 85
Concord 73 West Virginia Wesleyan 69
Charleston 94 Alderson Broaddus 82
MEC North:
West Liberty 3-0
Fairmont State 2-1
Frostburg State 1-1
Alderson Broaddus 1-2
Wheeling 0-1
NDC 0-2
MEC South:
Glenville State 3-0
Concord 2-1
West Virginia State 2-1
Charleston 1-2
Davis & Elkins 1-2
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-3
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