It is not quite March yet- but you would not have known by the intensity in Murphy Gymnasium on Thursday night. The Notre Dame College Falcons would come away with a 88-79 win- and- the season sweep of the Concord Mountain Lions.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about it:
"That was a hell of a win against a really good team. They are one of the better teams in our region and our conference. Bolte- and- Rodgers are two of the better players in our conference and the region as well." Koenig said.
Will Vorhees continued his torrid place of late as he scored 42 points- grabbed 11 rebounds- dished out five assists- and- had a steal in the victory. Isaiah Sanders added 20 points- Bruce Hodges stuffed the stat sheet once again with 10 points- six assists- five rebounds- four steals- and- two blocks. Larenz Thurman added nine points- and- seven assists. Both Thurman and Hodges would play all 40 minutes in the contest, NDC shot 54 percent from the field- 46 percent (10-22) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (12-15) from the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 36-29. They had 18 assists and nine turnovers in the victory.
On the lift from the bench:
"HP (Halil Parks-) and Angelo (Cugini) gave us a huge lift off the bench tonight. Talk about unselfish- Angelo had not even practiced full court yet and I told him we might need him. He did a great job at the end of the first half." Koenig said.
Concord (16-9 11-8 MEC) was led by Tommy BoltSawte who scored 26 points- Malik Johnson added 19- Simun Kovac had 12- and- Trey Brisco added 10. The Mountain Lions shot 47 percent from the field- 32 percent (10-31) from the 3-point line- and- shot at a 75 percent clip (9-12) from the free throw line. The Mountain Lions had 19 assists and seven turnovers in the loss.
Koenig talked about the job the team did on Bolte and Rodgers:
"Bolte is a hell of a player- he is tough to handle for 40 minutes. He's that good. As for Rodgers- we did not want to help off of him. We made two mistakes off of him defenively- but as a whole it was a really good job. He is a big key for them- and- holding him down was one of the big reasons we won this game."
NDC (19-6 15-4 MEC) would race out to a 11-0 lead to start the contest. The lead would grow to 17 (26-9) after a Vorhees layup with 10:35 in the opening half. Concord would go on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to seven (26-19) after a pair of Bolte free throws with 7:07 until halftime. After a pair of Vorhees free throws stretched the lead back to nine- the Mountain Lions would go on a 6-0 run to pull within three (28-25.) NDC would maintain a seven point lead (37-30) after a Cugini layup with 2:27 in the half. The Falcons would go scoreless the rest of the opening stanza- and- Concord would close the half on a 9-0 run capped by a Bolte layup that would give them a 39-37 halftime advantage.
Bolte and Johnson led the Mountain Lions with 11 points each in the opening half. Concord shot 50 percent from the field- 42percent (5-12) from the 3-point line- and- 57 percent (4-7) from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes. They had 13 assists- and- four turnovers in the half.
NDC was led by Vorhees with 19 points- and- seven rebounds in the opening half- while Thurman added six. The Falcons shot 42 percent in the opening half- 46 percent (5-11) from the 3-point line- and- a perfect four of four from the foul line in the half. They had a 19-16 rebounding advantage in the first half. NDC had five assists- and- five turnovers in the opening stanza.
NDC got off to a good start in the second half. Koenig talked abut an adjustment they made after halftime:
" They doubled us in the first half and we didn't execute. I am not sure why. But at the beginning of the second half they doubled Will-and- Bruce got a layup. We need cutters on our team to execute- and- we did a much better job of that in the second half."
The two teams would go back and forth until Sanders would go on a personal 5-0 run- as he would slam one home- and- then knock down a 3-pointer to give NDC a four point lead (51-47) with 15:33 to go. The game would be knotted at 57 after Bolte converted a three-point play with 13:01 left. The game would be tied again- this time at 60 when Vorhees would hit a big basket. A 3-pointer by Hodges would make it 65-60 in favor of NDC.
Koenig talked about it:
"That was a huge 3-pointer in the corner by Bruce. He got the layup early in the half- and- sometimes that's what you need is to see the ball go thru the hoop. That was a big basket though."
Rodgers would hit a 3-pointer for Concord and it would be a one point NDC lead (71-70) with 6:48 to go. The Falcons woulawabd then go on a 8-0 run. They would get a pair of free throws by Sanders- and- then back to back 3-pointer's by Thurman- and- Parks that would make it 79-70 with 5:06 to go. The NDC lead would be four (83-79)- and- then Vorhees would deliver a pair of free throws- and- the dagger 3-pointer with 1:10 to go- as neither team would score the rest of the way.
Vorhees has now scored 30 points or more in seven straight games. He has the most points in a season in Division 2 since at least 2000. With the win NDC has won six straight overall- and- 10 straight at home.
Koenig talked about the win afterwards:
"We got contributions from up and down the roster. Will brought it home for us- and- we finished the game with rebounding the ball- and- getting loose balls."
Koenig talked about beating a team of that caliber as we head towards March:
"That was a hell of a win. Every win is a big win this time of year- and- every game is a big game. But that one feels good beating a team as talented as Concord is. Our guys stepped up big time- and- got it done."
Koenig talked about Vorhees reaction afterwards:
"It was real good to see a smile- and- how excited Will was after that win. It was really intense out there- and- he is a heck of a competitor.
On the lift from Sanders today:
"Isaiah was really good. He gave us a huge lift especially in transition. Keeping the ball in front."
Cugini talked about Sanders:
"Isaiah- he brings energy all over the place."
Cugini talked about how good it is to be back- and be with this group:
" It feels great to be back with my family on the court. Couldn't ask for better teammates. Where do I start- Will did his thing like usual- best player in the country. Renz (Thurman) that man can hoop= he's got ice in his veins. Bruce is a soldier- love playing with him. Hamish (Warden)played big minutes he's gonna be great- Drew is gonna hit his shots that boy can shoot- and- HP we all know he can ball- he played great tonight- and- had a huge three."
Cugini talked about the energy of the bench:
" Our bench were the loudest people in the gym tonight. That was a great win."
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they take on Virginia Wise for Senior day. Tip time is set for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores:
Fairmont State 85 Charleston 77
Shepherd 87 West Virginia State 86
Virginia Wise 90 Urbana 73
Wheeling Jesuit 100 Glenville State 72
West Liberty 77 West Virginia Wesleyan 64
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 17-2 (21-3)
NDC 15-4 (19-6)
Fairmont State 15-4 (18-7)
Charleston 12-7 (17-8)
Concord 11-8 (16-9)
West Virginia State 9-10 (12-13)
Shepherd 9-10 (13-12)
West Virginia Wesleyan 7-12 (10-15)
Wheeling Jesuit 6-13 (7-18)
Glenville State 5-14 (10-15)
Virginia Wise 5-14 (8-17)
Urbana 3-16 (5-18)
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