The Notre Dame College Falcons had no answer for the #2 ranked West Liberty Hilltoppers pressure and had a rough night shooting the ball in a 109-84 loss at the ASRC. Redshirt sophomore Javontae Jones set career highs in points (20,) rebounds (12,) and blocks (three) in the defeat. NDC drops to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in MEC play. The Hilltoppers improve to 5-0 and 1-0 in the MEC.
The Falcons scored the first bucket of the game on a layup by redshirt sophomore Devon Haid. Christian Montague knocked down a triple to put WLU on top 3-2 before redshirt junior RJ Ogom put the Falcons back on top 4-3. A 3-pointer by Ben Sarson was answered by an old fashioned three-point play by Ogom that put NDC on top 7-6 with 17:12 in the first half. After a Dante Spadafora 3-ball put WLU up 9-7 Robbie Cass knotted the game at nine with a layup at the 16:05 mark of the opening half. The Hilltoppers turned up the defensive pressure and went on a 13-1 run to make it 22-10 at the 13:30 mark of the half. Ogom cut it to 10 with a layup but WLU went on another 15-2 spurt that stretched the lead to 23 (37-14) with 8:58 in the opening half. NDC went on a brief 6-0 run as Ogom and Haid both connected on a pair free throws before a two handed jam by Ogom cut it to a 17 point game (37-20) at the 6:09 mark of the first half. The Hilltoppers would take a 21 point lead (50-29) into the locker room.
NDC was led by Ogom who had 11 points in the first half. Jared Hankins added five, while both Jones and Haid netted four. NDC shot 34.4 percent in the first half and went 0-8 from the 3-point line in the opening 20 minutes. They shot 7-8 at the free throw line in the half. The Falcons had four assists and 16 turnovers in the opening stanza.
WLU got 10 points from Rasile to lead the way in the opening half, Spadafora added nine, Finley Woodward tallied six, and Montague chipped in five in the half. The Hilltoppers shot 47.9 percent from the floor, 39.8 percent (7-18) from the 3-point line, and a perfect seven of seven at the free throw line in the first half. They had 13 assists and eight turnovers in the opening stanza.
The second half was all Hilltoppers as they led by as many as 35 points (108-73) after a Chaz Hinds 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark. Jones would score 16 of his 20 points for the Falcons in the second stanza.
West Liberty had seven players score in double figures in the contest. Sarson paced the Toppers with 16, Rasile added 14, Woodward netted 12, Kyle Daugustino and Darren Fergus each scored 11, while both Lacy Shuler and Montague notched 10. WLU shot 48.8 percent from the field, 41.7 percent (15-36) from the 3-point line, and 72.7 percent (16-22) from the free throw line. They had 30 assists, 13 turnovers, and picked up 23 steals in the contest.
NDC was led by Jones who went 8-9 from the floor to get his career high 20 points to go with a career high 12 rebounds, and career high three blocks. He was joined in double figures by Ogom who scored 19 points on 6-9 shooting and was a perfect 7-7 at the free throw line on the night. Cass also scored a career high 11 on 5-8 shooting including a 3-pointer to go with his three assists and two steals. Haid rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points to go with seven rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal. Haid was 4-4 at the free throw line which makes him a perfect 16-16 on the season.The Falcons shot 47.7 percent from the field, 2-16 (12.5 percent) from the 3-point line, and 83.3 percent (20-24) from the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 45-33. They had 13 assists and 31 turnovers in the contest.
NDC head coach Mark Richmond did not mince words after this one:
"Disappointing performance. Didn't handle the pressure and just let them control the whole game. You're not going to beat them on their home court playing the way they want to play,"Richmond explained.
"We just got to get back to work and move forward," NDC junior guard Gbolahan Adio mentioned.
NDC will have some time to regroup over the thanksgiving holiday and will be back in action when they host Glenville State next Wednesday (11/29.) Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores Tuesday:
Concord 73 West Virginia State 71
Charleston 91 Glenville State 83
Frostburg State 86 West Virginia Wesleyan 83
Davis & Elkins 77 Fairmont State 70
Wheeling 75 Salem 62
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 1-0 (5-0)
Davis & Elkins 2-0 (4-1)
Charleston 2-0 (3-1)
Concord 1-1 (4-1)
Fairmont State 1-1 (4-1)
NDC 1-1 (2-2)
Glenville State 1-1 (1-3)
Frostburg State 1-1 (1-4)
Wheeling 0-1 (2-3)
West Virginia State 0-2 (1-3)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-2 (1-5)
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