Winning in the Mountain East Conference is never easy. Winning on the road in this league is even tougher. "We found a way to win," NDC head coach Mark Richmond mentioned. "We didn't do a great job of closing out the game but stayed with it. Thought we could attack them more in the paint. We probably settled for a few too many jump shots. Give them credit though they made some tough shots down the stretch."
NDC would escape with the 84-83 overtime win behind 20 points from redshirt sophomore Devin Haid including the game winning 3-pointer, 15 points and seven rebounds from redshirt junior Andre Harris and 12 points from senior Trent Williams. NDC would not seal the win until Alex Mirhosseini missed the second of two free throws with .3 seconds left on the clock.
The game was delayed at the start due to an issue with the net. "The delay was unexpected but our last game started late so it is not something we have not experienced before,"NDC junior Jamarr Talbert stated.
The Bobcats were led by Dieker Padrino who lit up the scoreboard with 35 points while Mirhosseini added 13, and Anthony Craven tallied 11.
NDC (10-8 5-7 MEC) shot 52.5 percent from the floor, 35.7 percent (10-28) from the 3-point line, 66.7 percent (12-18) from the free throw line and had a 36-22 advantage in the paint. The Falcons had 18 assists and 16 turnovers in the contest.
The Bobcats (2-17 1-11 MEC) shot 43.3 percent from the floor, 50 percent (10-20) from the 3-point line, and 75 percent (21-28) from the free throw line. Wesleyan edged the Falcons on the boards 29-28. They had 15 assists and 11 turnovers in the contest.
The Bobcats jumped out to an 11-2 lead after a Mirhosseini 3-pointer at the 17:01 mark of the opening half. NDC would rally and tie the game at 16 on a Haid triple before a Williams three would give NDC a 19-16 lead at the 10:38 mark of the first half. NDC would stretch the lead to 11 (40-29) after a transition dunk by junior Gbolahan Adio. The Bobcats would trim the NDC lead to seven (42-35) at the half.
Haid led the Falcons with seven in the first half while the trio of Williams, Harris, and freshman Robbie Cass tallied six. NDC shot 54.5 percent in the opening stanza, 35.3 percent (6-17) from the 3-point line, and went 0-1 at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes. They had a 15-14 edge on the boards and had 12 assists to go with eight turnovers in the half.
Padrino led the Bobcats with 13 in the first half, Craven added seven, and Curtis Litton had five. WVWC shot 40.7 percent from the floor, 41.7 percent (5-12) from the 3-point line, and 66.7 percent (8-12) from the free throw line. They had seven assists and seven turnovers in the opening stanza.
After junior Josh Dames hit his first triple of the game NDC had an 11 point lead (51-40) with 17:06 to go. Williams hit a pair of free throws after a technical foul and hit a jumper to extend the NDC lead to 13 (55-42) with 16:06 to go. After Haid hit two of three free throws at the 14:18 mark NDC led by 12 (59-47.) Behind Padrino and a 3-pointer by Mirhosseini the Bobcats went on a 10-0 run to pull within two (59-57) with 10:57 on the clock. Dames hit his second three to put NDC back up five (62-57.) After Padrino hit another three at the 6:37 mark of regulation we were knotted at 64. Craven gave the Bobcats a brief 65-64 lead on a free throw before a four point run by Haid. Mirhosseini and Haid traded buckets before a pair of free throws by Padrino cut the NDC lead to one (70-69) with 3:22 left in regulation. Talbert hit a pair of free throws to stretch the NDC lead to three but WVWC got a layup by Joshua Johnson and a pair of free throws by Mirhosseini to go up 73-72 with 2:10 to go. Haid cashed in on a pair of free throws 15 seconds later and NDC was back on top (74-73.) Craven spilt a pair of free throws to tie the game at 74 with 1;09 to go. After a Harris layup NDC had a two point lead with 43 ticks remaining. Craven tied the game with a layup of his own with 27 seconds to go. An NDC late three was off the mark and we headed to overtime.
Mirhosseini and Williams traded layups early in the extra session. Harris scored the next three NDC points at the free throw line and the Falcons led 81-78 with 2:42 in overtime. Four consecutive Padrino free throws put the Bobcats up 82-81 with 1:46 left in overtime. Haid buried a triple off a pass from Harris and NDC led 84-82 with 1:23 in overtime. Neither team would score until the final seconds. Mirhosseini was fouled with .3 seconds on the clock. He drained the first and the second was off the mark as time expired.
"We did what we had to do to get these three wins. We stayed together and found a way to pull out wins," Talbert mentioned.
"We stayed together as a unit and didn't let the pressure affect us. Moving on to the next play and getting defensive stops when we needed them," Dames added.
NDC had five blocks in this one led by a season high three from Dames. They also had eight steals as Harris had three and Dames secured a pair.
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they take on Davis & Elkins College at Murphy Gym. Tip time is slated for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores:
West Virginia State 98 West Liberty 92
Davis & Elkins 79 Salem 56
Concord 69 Fairmont State 68
Charleston 101 Wheeling 80
Glenville State 80 Frostburg State 70
MEC Standings:
Charleston 10-2 (15-3)
West Liberty 9-2 (15-4)
West Virginia State 9-3 (13-5)
Concord 8-4 (12-4)
Fairmont State 7-5 (14-5)
Davis & Elkins 6-5 (11-8)
Glenville State 6-6 (10-9)
NDC 5-7 (10-8)
Wheeling 2-10 (5-13)
Frostburg State 2-10 (2-17)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-11 (2-17)
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