The Notre Dame College Falcons- and- West Liberty Hilltoppers hooked up in a good one at the ASRC on Wednesday- and- the seventh ranked Hilltoppers would prevail 99-98 after a Eric Meininger 3-pointer with .9 seconds to go that would prove to be the game winner. The last 41 seconds were indicative of how the rest of the contest went. Bruce Hodges made a pair of free throws with 41 seconds to go to give NDC a two point lead- but Brady Arnold tied it with a pair of his own 16 seconds later. After a Will Vorhees jumper with 5.2 seconds left- the Falcons had a two point lead once again. West Liberty chose not to take a timeout- and- Meininger would knock down a 3-pointer with a hand in his face.
NDC (19-8 15-6 MEC) was led by 30 points- and- 13 rebounds from Will Vorhees. It was the ninth straight game that Vorhees has tallied 30 points or more. Drew Scarberry scored a season high 29 points- as he knocked down eight 3-pointer's in the contest. Larenz Thurman nailed five 3-pointer's of his own- and- scored 23 points to go along with five assists. NDC shot 50 percent from the field- 50 percent from the 3-point line (14-28) from the 3-point line- and- 71 percent (20-28) from the free throw in a losing effort. NDC edged the Hilltoppers on the glass 39-38. They had 19 assists- and- 15 turnovers in the defeat.
West Liberty (23-2 19-2 MEC) was led by 21 points from Eric Meininger- while Dalton Bolon- and- Marlon Moore Jr. each tallied 18. Yahel Hill rounded out the double digit scorers with 14. The Hilltoppers shot 47 percent from the field- 31 percent (8-26) from the 3-point line- and- 92 percent (23-25) from the free throw line in the win. They had 11 assists- and- 10 turnovers as a team.
The game was hotly contested throughout- as it featured 10 ties- and- 11 changes. After a 9-0 run by West Liberty Evan French would knock down a 3-pointer to lead 18-9 with 14:49 to go in the opening half. NDC would battle back- and pull to within one (23-22) after the third 3-pointer by Scarberry in the opening half. Halil Parks would knock down a 3-pointer at the 11:52 mark of the half to knot the game at 25. The lead would be single digits for the rest of the half- and- it would be 58-56 in favor of the Hilltoppers at halftime.
NDC was led by Vorhees and Scarberry with 17 points each in the opening half. Thurman added 13 to round out the double digit scorers in the opening 20 minutes. NDC shot 51 percent as a team- 53 percent (9-17) from the 3-point line- and- 73 percent (11-15) from the free throw line. It was a 20-18 rebounding advantage for the Falcons. NDC had 12 assists- and- seven turnovers in the opening stanza.
West Liberty was led by Moore with 12 points in the opening half- while Hill added 10. West Liberty shot 51 percent from the field- 27 percent (3-11) from the 3-point line- and- 94 percent (17-18) from the free throw line. They had seven assists- and- four turnovers as a team in the half.
It was West Liberty who got off to the hot start in the second half. They would score the first six points- and- lead 64-56 with 18:32 to go. NDC would battle back once again- and- after a Scarberry 3-pointer the game would be knotted at 68 with 15:03 to go. French would hit a 3-pointer for the Hilltoppers- but NDC would get another Scarberry 3-ball to go on top 73-72 with 13:37 to go. NDC maintained that lead until a Meininger old fashioned three-point play gave West Liberty the lead with 11:06 to go. Thurman would answer with another 3-ball- and- NDC led 79-77 halfway thru the second half. The teams would go back and forth until Scarberry converted a four-point play with 8:50 to go. The lead would be short-lived as West Liberty would get the lead back 87-85. West Liberty would lead by five- but once again the Falcons would come storming back- and- after a Vorhees traditional three-point play at the 1:53 mark the game would be tied at 94. Hodges- and- Arnold would trade free throws- before the Vorhees jumper gave NDC a 98-96 lead with 5.2 seconds to go. That set the stage for the heroics of Meininger that would clinch the number one seed and outright MEC regular season championship for West Liberty. After a timeout with .9 seconds to go NDC would have one last stand but a Vorhees 3-pointer would fall short as time expired.
The Falcons will close out the regular season Saturday when they travel to Urbana. Tip time is set for 4 PM- and- you can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
Glenville State 79 Shepherd 65
Concord 75 West Virginia State 71
Fairmont State 76 West Virginia Wesleyan 53
Urbana 95 Wheeling Jesuit 93
Charleston 85 Virginia Wise 74
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 19-2 (23-3)
Fairmont State 17-4 (20-7)
NDC 15-6 (19-8)
Charleston 14-7 (19-8)
Concord 13-8 (18-9)
Shepherd 9-12 (13-14)
West Virginia State 9-12 (12-15)
West Virginia Wesleyan 7-14 (10-17)
Wheeling Jesuit 7-14 (8-19)
Glenville State 6-15 (11-16)
Virginia Wise 6-15 (9-18)
Urbana 4-17 (6-19)
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