The Notre Dame College Falcons took care of business at home on Wednesday night as they rolled to a 87-71 win over the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats inside Murphy Gym. With the victory NDC improves to 12-9 and 9-6 in the MEC. After the loss the Bobcats fall to 2-19 and 1-14 in the MEC.
NDC Head Coach Mark Richmond gave his thoughts after this one:
"I was happy with our effort. Overall it was a good night. We settled in and got some key stops when we needed to and got in transition, "Richmond explained.
The Falcons got off to a slow start as they trailed 13-7 after a Jayden Hibbitt basket for the Bobcats. It was 17-9 WVWC with 13 minutes to go in the opening half. Jaedon Willis hit a 3-pointer and a jumper to pull NDC within four (20-16.) A Willis 3-pointer at the 6:28 mark of the opening half would give the Falcons a 26-24 lead. Braeden Mcgrew would hit a 3-pointer but it would be answered by a Godinez 3-ball. A DeAirius Barker 3-pointer gave the Falcons a five point lead (32-27) until a Tommie Pope layup cut the NDC lead to three (32-29.) Godinez nailed a triple, Mike Samspon had a steal and layup, followed by a Daylin Lee 3-pointer that made it 40-29 Falcons heading into the locker room. NDC shot 50 percent in the opening half, 40 percent (6-15) from the 3-point line and went a perfect four of four at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes. Willis had 12 in the opening half to lead the Falcons, Godinez added eight, and Lee tallied seven. For the Bobcats they were led by McGrew with 10 and Hibbitt with eight in the opening stanza. They shot 48 percent from the field, 57 percent (4-7) from the 3-point line, and 50 percent (1-2) at the free throw line in the opening half.
NDC picked up right where they left off at the end of the first half as Lee hit a triple, and Sampson made a layup. A Willis 3-pointer at the 17:47 mark made it a 19 point Falcons lead (52-33.) The Bobcats got to within 14 (55-41) before a Godinez hoop stretched the lead back to 17 (58-41.) The lead would grow to as many as 22 and NDC would cruise to victory from there.
On the night NDC was led by Godinez who went 7 of 11 from the field, four of eight from the 3-point line and four of four at the free throw line on his way to 22 points.
Godinez talked about how he felt in this one:
"My role has changed but I have no problem with my new role (with the second unit,) "Godinez explained. "We had to change it up to get wins and I can't control that. Whatever coach needs me to do I will do it. My job is to provide energy off the bench. We knew they were going to play some zone. I shoot everyday, when the first two shots went down I knew it was going to be my night. I expect to make every shot I take."
Richmond talked about how happy he was for Godinez:
"John had a couple tough shooting nights of late. He got to play some extended minutes tonight. He got some great looks and he knocked them down. It was good to see John smiling again, that was the goal."
Willis scored 18 points in 18 minutes as he went seven of nine from the field and four of five from the 3-point line. Daylin Lee also scored in double figures with 10. NDC shot 54 percent from the field, 48 percent (12-25) from the 3-point line, and 72 percent (13-18) from the free throw line in the contest. Richmond talked about how it was nice to get some minutes to some others tonight:
"It was good to get some guys some minutes tonight who haven't played as much. They are guys we will need at some point down the stretch. One of those guys that Richmond was talking about was Obinna Ugwuakazi. He had eight points and five rebounds tonight, I caught up with him after the game:
"We just needed to get over the hump and find a way to win after that stretch we had against tough opponents, "Ugwuakazi stated. "We just had to find a way to win. That win over Glenville made us closer as a team I think and we really needed that to get over the hump. For me I will do whatever it takes for the team to win. Whether it be clapping my hands on the bench or playing 40 minutes i'll do whatever they need me to."
The Falcons won the rebounding battle tonight 34-28. They had 19 assists and 17 turnovers in the contest. Richmond talked about sharing the ball:
"We did a really good job sharing it tonight. Having 19 assists on 31 made baskets. I will take that."
The Bobcats were paced by 20 points from Pope as he went 9 of 11 from the field on the night. Hibbitt added 18 as he was 5 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 10 at the free throw line, while McGrew netted 15 as he was five of 14 from the field and three of nine from the 3-point line. As a team Wesleyan shot 45 percent from the field, 39 percent (5-13) from the 3-point line, and 67 percent (14-21) at the free throw line. they had 13 assists and 14 turnovers on the night.
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Davis and Elkins. Tip time is set for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
West Liberty 96 West Virginia State 84
Charleston 86 Wheeling 70
Concord 92 Frostburg State 87 (OT)
Fairmont State 98 Glenville State 87
Alderson Broaddus 83 Davis & Elkins 70
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 13-2 (19-2)
Fairmont State 12-3 (17-3)
Charleston 12-3 (16-4)
West Virginia State 10-4 (15-6)
NDC 9-6 (12-9)
Concord 8-7 (10-10)
Alderson Broaddus 6-9 (9-10)
Wheeling 6-9 (7-14)
Glenville State 4-10 (7-11)
Davis & Elkins 4-11 (6-15)
Frostburg State 4-11 (6-15)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-14 (2-19)
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