The Notre Dame College Falcons (17-12) fresh off a 92-79 win over West Virginia State last night will take on the top seeded and fifth ranked West Liberty Hilltoppers (26-3) at 6 PM today (Saturday) at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. You can catch all the action on MountainEast.TV
"Right back at it after the win last night. Similar preparation, we're going to see some more pressure and need to be organized, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond said. "We have to get it over half court and still run offense. We have to do a much better job of handling the pressure than we did two weeks ago."
In the first meeting with the Hilltoppers NDC fell 109-84 back in November. 10 days ago they were a 100-57 loser in the home finale.
Richmond said this about that one:
"That one kind of got away from us."
All five NDC players scored in double figures in the win last night. Obinna Ugwuakazi had 22 points and 19 rebounds which were both career highs, Tyland Crawford had a career high 19, Jaedon Willis added 17, DeAirius Barker netted 13 and dished out a team high seven assists, while Jamarr Talbert netted 12.
In the first meeting with West Liberty Willis paced NDC with 26 and Barker had 10. In the second meeting Ugwuakazi had 10 and nine rebounds while Kaleb Torrence and Daylin Lee each tallied 10.
NDC is scoring 81.3 points per game on the year which is good for seventh in the conference, they allow 76.7 points per night which is second in the MEC. The Falcons shoots an MEC 11th best 44 percent from the floor while defensively they are second in the conference holding the opposition to 43 percent shooting. They shoot an MEC fourth best 37 percent from the 3-point line, while they are the top team in the MEC defending the 3-point line holding teams to 30 percent shooting from long range. NDC shoots 76 percent from the free throw line which is second best in the MEC. The Falcons are in the middle of the pack (sixth in the MEC) on the boards as they are +0.6 (38.7-38.1 rebounds per contest.)
Willis leads the Falcons and is second in the MEC averaging 21 points per game. The senior from Baltimore is 19th in the country with that average and came into the tournament with 593 total points. Willis shoots 40 percent from the 3-point line which is good for third in the MEC and makes an MEC fourth most 2.8 triples per game. He shoots an MEC second best 88.2 percent from the free throw line. His 162 makes (ninth best in the country) and 182 attempts (22nd most) going into the tournament. Willis also came into the weekend eighth in the MEC in minutes played at 33.7 per contest. Barker averages 12 points per game and dishes out a team leading 3.2 assists per contest. The redshirt sophomore from Cincinnati also leads the team in steals per game at 1.3. Ugwuakazi came into the tournament leading the team in rebounding at 6.3 per night,.
Willis talked pace:
"We need to set the tempo and take care of the ball for all 40 minutes. If we do that we should be in good shape, "he said.
West Liberty is coming off a 96-72 win over Concord last night. Bryce Butler led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Christian Montague added 15, Zach Rasile had 13, while both Alek West and Ben Sarson netted 11. WLU is second in the country and leads the MEC averaging 101 points per game. On the defensive end they give up 75.9 points per contest which is eighth in the MEC. WLU shoots 47 percent from the field which leads the league, while they are eighth defensively allowing teams to shoot 42 percent. From the 3-point line the Hilltoppers shoot 39 percent which is tops in the MEC while defensively they are fifth as the opposition shoots 35 percent from long distance. At the free throw line WLU is shooting 74 percent which is fourth in the MEC. On the glass WLU is seventh out rebounding the opposition by 0.5 (37.7-37.2) rebounds per night.
Butler leads WLU and the MEC as well as being 12th in the country scoring 22.3 points per game while grabbing an MEC fourth best 7.3 rebounds per night. Montague tallies 12,5 points per game, McKinney gets 12 per night, Steve Cannady averages 11 points per contest and Sarson gets 10.9 points per game.
Sarson led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds in the win back in November, Butler had 21 and nine rebounds, Cannady had 14, and Montague notched 11. In the second meeting 10 days ago Sarson had 20, Mckinney had 16, Butler scored 15, while both Chaz Hinds and West posted 10 point efforts.
Richmond gave the final thoughts prior to this one:
"it's similar to yesterday. It's never over. You have to keep playing and keep competing against this team. Hopefully we'll give ourselves a chance at the end."
Other MEC Semifinal Saturday:
Atlantic Region Rankings (Records Through Games on 2/26:
Indiana (PA) 26-1
West Liberty 25-3
MercyHurst 22-4
Virginia Union 22-7
Fairmont State 21-6
Pitt-Johnstown 18-9
West Chester 21-7
East Stroudsburg 21-7
West Virginia State 19-8
Winston Salem 18-8
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