The Notre Dame College Falcons played stifling defense all night Thursday- and- also got a monster performance from Will Vorhees on the way to a 78-53 rout of Shepherd inside Murphy Gym. With the victory NDC improved to 15-6 and 11-4 in the MEC. NDC also swept Shepherd for the first time in program history in the process. After a fifth straight loss Shepherd falls to 10-11 and 6-9 in the MEC.
Will Vorhees posted 31 points in the contest- and- tied for third on the all-time single game rebounding list with 20 on the evening- Larenz Thurman scored nine of the first 11 points of the game- and- finished with 13 points to go along with four assists- Drew Scarberry had nine points and seven rebounds- while Bruce Hodges once again stuffed the stat sheet with nine points- eight rebounds- and- six assists. NDC shot 46 percent as a team- 39 percent (11-28) from the 3-point line- and- 70 percent (7-10) at the free throw line. NDC had 16 assists and eight turnovers in the victory. They also won the rebounding battle 46-36.
Shepherd was led by Jon Preston with 23 points- and- Devin Smith with 11. The Rams shot 32 percent from the floor- 24 percent (7-29) from the 3-point line- and- 57 percent (8-14) at the free throw line. The Rams had eight assists and 10 turnovers in the loss.
The Falcons led wire to wire and controlled this one from the outset. The story of this one was at the defensive end.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about it:
" We are going to start with Bruce Hodges. He always guards the best player on the other team- and- his assignment was Tommy Lang tonight. Lang has had a game where he scored 36 points this year- he is averaging 20 points a game- and is one of the best players in the league. That was impressive." Koenig said.
Vorhees agreed:
" Bruce gets the player of the game tonight for holding one of the best players in the league to zero points-that was the true difference in the game." Vorhees said.
Vorhees continued with his thoughts on this one:
" Great team win tonight. We knew we had to come out and take care of business tonight so Saturday's game means even more. Tonight was a war under weird conditions with the floor being so slippery. Renz (Thurman) made them pay early- and- that opened up the offense for everyone else to get going. We rebounded well tonight- so that also was another advantage we created for ourselves. Everyone played there role well tonight- excellent team win against solid competition."
Koenig agreed:
" It was a really good team win. I was very pleased. Shot selection was very good tonight. We had a couple that could have been better but pretty good overall. Will turned the ball over a few times- but I was really pleased with the effort. We took care of the ball- and- we handled the double teams well."
Koenig talked about Halil Parks as well on the defensive end:
"HP's assignment tonight was McKnight. That was impressive as well."
On the effort as a team on defense Koenig said:
" Two of the best guards in the league and we made them battle for every shot tonight. Hamish (Warden) didn't play a lot but was really good on both ends- Will- and- Drew rotated really well also on the defensive end."
On the rebounding especially for Vorhees Koenig added:
"Will was really good on the glass tonight- Hamish was good also- and- Scarberry- and- Hodges pitched in also."
The game began with the Falcons getting three Thurman 3-pointer's- and- a bucket from Hodges- as well as a basket from Parks to jump out to a 13-0 lead five minutes in. NDC would lead by 20 (26-6) after a Vorhees jumper halfway thru the opening half. Shepherd would go on a 10-0 run to pull within 10 (26-16) after a Preston 3-pointer at the 6:03 mark of the opening half. Vorhees would score the next four- before a 9-0 Shepherd run would trim the lead to five (30-25) after a Preston layup at the 2:26 mark of the half. Hodges would score the next basket- and- Parks would hit a 3-ball to give NDC a 10 point lead (35-25) at the intermission.
Koenig talked about the first half:
" We missed a lot of shots in the first half but I was pleased with the effort."
Vorhees led the Falcons with 10 points- and- 13 rebounds in the opening half- while Thurman had nine. NDC shot 38 percent as a team- 33 percent (5-15) from the 3-point line- and- two of two at the free throw line. They led on the boards 26-19 in the opening half. The Falcons had six assists and three turnovers in the first half.
Shepherd got four 3-pointer's from Preston on his way to 16 in the opening half- while Devin Smith added five. The Rams shot 30 percent as a team- 31 percent (5-16) at the 3-point line- and- 50 percent (2-4) from the free throw line. They had five assists- and- five turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
The Falcons lead would be trimmed to seven (37-30) after a Smith 3-pointer at the 18:08 mark. NDC would respond with a 12-0 run of their own to stretch the lead to 19 (49-30) after another Vorhees basket. NDC would lead by 23 halfway thru the second half. The lead would be cut to 19 (63-44) after a Smith free throw at the 7:16 mark- but the Falcons would go on a 13-2 run to expand the lead to 30. The final would be 78-53.
Vorhees talked big picture:
"Huge step we took tonight not allowing them to think they had a chance to come back. We knocked them down and stepped on there throats."
Hodges continued his personal streak- as he has now had at least one steal in 17 consecutive games. He gave his thoughts after the contest:
" What an incredible performance by Will tonight- but it's really stuff we are used to seeing. Renz went off and got us going. It was a great defensive effort as a team tonight."
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they host Fairmont State. Tip time is set for 4 PM. As always you can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores Thursday:
Glenville State 101 West Virginia State 88
Fairmont State 86 Urbana 74
West Liberty 112 Virginia Wise 100
Wheeling Jesuit 98 Concord 89
Charleston 76 West Virginia Wesleyan 66 (OT)
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 14-1 (18-2)
Fairmont State 13-2 (16-5)
NDC 11-4 (15-6)
Charleston 9-6 (14-7)
Concord 9-6 (14-7)
West Virginia State 8-7 (11-10)
Shepherd 6-9 (10-11)
West Virginia Wesleyan 6-9 (9-12)
Virginia Wise 4-11 (7-14)
Urbana 3-12 (5-14)
Wheeling Jesuit 3-12 (4-17)
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