The Notre Dame College Falcons and Glenville State University Pioneers went back and forth all night on Wednesday at Murphy Gym. 40 minutes would not be enough to decide this one as the Falcons fell just short 88-87 in overtime in front of a raucous crowd inside of Murphy Gymnasium. In a game that featured 13 ties and 20 lead changes Glenville State improved to 3-3 and 2-1 in the Mountain East Conference. NDC fell to 2-3 and 1-2 in the MEC after the loss.
"Disappointing result. Honestly didn't think we deserved to win the game. Obviously had some chances down the stretch and in overtime but we didn't do enough on either end of the floor to deserve to win that one," NDC head coach Mark Richmond explained. "Obviously would be nice to win the home games. We have to play better, have to defend better, and have to shoot the ball better. 13 assists and 19 turnovers isn't going to be good enough. We gave them 86 shots at the goal (nine more than we had) that is going to hurt you at the end of the day."
"Our first half came back to haunt us, we have to put together a complete game. I have to take care of the ball for us to have a better chance to win," junior Gbolahan Adio stated.
The game went back and forth in the early going as it would for much of the night. NDC led 11-10 after senior Trent Williams made one of two free throws at the 14:03 mark of the first half. After a layup by Jordan 'Turbo' Smith the Pioneers had a 20-12 lead at the 10:38 mark of the opening stanza. The lead grew to nine (23-14) on a three-point play by Jay Scott with 9:33 until halftime. A Smith layup at the 5:17 mark made it 29-20 GSU. NDC was looking for a spark and they got one off the bench from freshman Cam Johnson. A triple by Johnson got NDC within six. After a Smith layup NDC would go on a 6-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by junior Kaleb Torrence that made it a 31-29 game. NDC would not stop there. After a Dajon Congleton layup was answered by a Johnson layup with 55 seconds to go until halftime. Redshirt sophomore Jevontae Jones tied the game at 33 after he rebounded a Devin Haid miss. Redshirt junior RJ Ogom would spilt a pair of free throws and NDC would take a 34-33 lead as both teams headed to the locker room.
Richmond talked about the first half:
"We didn't play great defensively in the first half. They missed some open looks."
Then he talked about the bench a little:
"We had some nice moments by our bench. It is tough at this time of year though figuring out when to get these guys minutes. Some of these guys (like Cam Johnson) it's only their fifth college game. You kind of want to work some of those guys along slowly but it's tough in the heat of the game."
As cold as it was in northeastern Ohio on Wednesday night the shooting was just as cold inside Murphy Gym in the first half. NDC shot 33.3 percent from the floor, 15.38 percent (2-13) from the 3-point line and 66.67 percent (8-12) at the free throw line. Jones and Johnson led NDC with eight points in the first half while Harris had a team leading eight rebounds in the opening stanza.
"We missed a lot of shots in the first half," Ogom mentioned.
Johnson hit a Pionners 3-pointer to put Glenville up to start the second half but Ogom scored in the paint, freshman Robbie Cass knocked down a 3-pointer. and Adio hit a jumper to give NDC a 41-36 lead. After a three by Johnson cut the lead to two Cass answered with one of his own to make it 44-39 Falcons with 16:20 on the clock. After an Adio 3-ball at the 14 minute mark NDC led by five (49-44.) GSU went on a 7-0 run as a Smith layup put them back on top with 10:48 to go. The score would be tied three more times and after a pair of Ogom free throws at the 8:15 mark NDC led 57-55. Scott hit a three to put GSU on top but Adio answered right back for the home team. Another Smith 3-ball would put the Pioneers back on top. NDC tied it once again, this time at 61 on a Andre Harris layup at the 6:43 mark. NDC went in front as Ogom made a layup 18 seconds later. A 3-pointer by Scott was followed by a Harris bucket that put the Falcons back on top as we continued on the see-saw. After a Collins layup and a Scott dunk after a Johnson steal GSU led by three (68-65) with 4:30 to go in regulation. Cass split a pair of free throws and Smith hit yet another triple to make it 71-66 Pioneers with 3:28 in regulation. The lead was stretched to seven (73-66) on a Dominiq Penn layup at the 2:36 mark. A layup by Adio and then a layup off of a steal by Harris pulled NDC to within three (73-70) with 1:50 to go in regulation. After a sloppy possession by each team NDC got a steal and layup by Johnson to get to within one (73-72) with 1:30 in regular time. Penn split a pair of free throws and Devin Haid made a layup to knot the game at 74 with 1:19 in the game. Each team had an empty offensive possession but after an NDC foul Collins knocked down a pair of free throws to put GSU up two at the 46 second mark. An offensive rebound and Harris layup knotted the game again, this time at 76 with 32 seconds remaining. With the crowd at Murphy Gym on its feet chanting de-fense, defense, the Falcons forced a couple of tough GSU shots and this game was headed to overtime.
GSU jumped out quickly in the overtime period as Smith hit a jumper and Johnson converted a three-point play to put the Pioneers up five just 23 seconds into the extra session. A steal and dunk by Harris pulled NDC to within three. A Collins layup was answered by a Harris layup to keep the deficit at three for NDC. Cass split a pair of free throws and after another Harris steal NDC was within one as Adio split a pair of free throws. Harris put NDC on top with 58 seconds to go (84-83.) A 3-pointer by Penn 11 seconds later would give the lead back to GSU. Adio had the answer as his triple put NDC up 87-86 with 33 seconds left in the extra session. A Collins layup put GSU back in front with 15 seconds to go in overtime. Richmond called timeout and NDC had a look to win it but it would not fall as time expired.
Harris paced NDC with a career high 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds, four steals, and a pair of blocks. Adio added 17 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Johnson added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Ogom had 11 points and seven boards. NDC shot 41.6 percent as a team, 22.2 percent (6-27) from the 3-point line, and 70.8 percent (17-24) from the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 52-47. They had 13 assists and 19 turnovers in the contest.
Richmond talked a little about this one:
"In the second half it was obviously back and forth and we had to score some. We couldn't get that timely stop when we needed it. They have a couple guys that are really talented offensively. We didn't do a good job playing to those guys weaknesses. We let them play to their strengths and that ended up getting us in the end."
GSU was paced by 32 points from Smith, Johnson had 20, Scott added 11, and Collins tallied 10. GSU shot 40.7 percent from the floor, 32.3 percent (10-31) from the 3-point line, and 66.7 percent (8-12) from the free throw line. They had 13 assists and 16 turnovers in the contest.
Ogom gave these thoughts:
"We moved the ball better in the second half so we had more clean looks. We had our chances to win towards the end, we just couldn't pull it out."
"Tough loss today. We missed a lot of shots we usually make,"Torrence mentioned. Gotta learn from all the mistakes we made and bounce back on Saturday for a big road game."
NDC will head to the Carter Center for that big road game when they take on the Concord Mountain Lions. Tip time is slated for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
Charleston 81 Frostburg State 75
West Virginia State 86 Fairmont State 77
Davis & Elkins 81 Wheeling 60
West Liberty 125 West Virginia Wesleyan 69
Concord 72 Salem 56
MEC Standings:
Charleston 3-0 (4-1)
Davis & Elkins 3-0 (5-2)
West Liberty 2-0 (6-0)
Glenville State 2-1 (3-3)
Concord 1-1 (5-1)
Fairmont State 1-2 (4-2)
West Virginia State 1-2 (3-3)
NDC 1-2 (2-3)
Frostburg State 1-2 (1-7)
Wheeling 0-2 (2-4)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-3 (1-6)
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