The Notre Dame College Falcons and Fairmont State Fighting Falcons will do battle Wednesday evening at Dan Cava Court inside Joe Retton Arena. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.
NDC swingman Drew Scarberry talked about what he expects:
" It's going to be a crazy environment and we are going to have to come out with more energy than we ever have."Scarberry explained.
Bruce Hodges talked about what this team has been preaching all season long:
" It is a very winnable game. We just gotta come out and play harder than them."Hodges mentioned.
Coach Mark Richmond gave his thoughts ahead of the contest:
"Obviously it is an opponent that we are familiar with. We need to bring the same energy that we did in the first meeting. We know that they are good enough to beat us. We have to scratch- claw- and- gang rebound. We need to take care of the ball- and- get off to a better start than we have in the last couple road games we have played. It will be a fun atmosphere and we look forward to the opportunity."Richmond stated.
NDC (8-14 6-10 MEC) is coming off a 74-60 win at home over Davis & Elkins on Saturday. The victory was the fourth straight for NDC and improves the teams record to 7-4 on their home floor. Wednesday they will have to do something they have only done once this season by winning on the road. In the win on Saturday the Falcons had four players score in double figures. Levi Frankland led the way with 25 points- Scarberry added 12- Dan Lott netted 11- and- DeAnthony Owens chipped in 10. NDC shot 46 percent as a team- 36 percent (8-22) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (16-20) from the free throw line. The Falcons had 11 assists- and- 14 turnovers as a team. The Falcons are scoring 78 points per game which is good for sixth in the MEC- while they are allowing a MEC fifth best 79.6 points per contest.
Frankland leads the Falcons in scoring and is seventh in the conference putting up 18.2 points per game- he is also shooting 56 percent from the field- and- 44 percent from the 3-point line. His 2.5 3-point makes per night is good for sixth in the MEC. Owens is scoring 15.6 points per game- grabbing a team leading 6.4 rebounds per night- shoots 49 percent from the field- and- 42 percent from the 3-point line. Scarberry is netting 15.1 per game- grabbing 5.2 rebounds per contest- and- shooting 35 percent from the 3-point line. Jordan Burton is leading the team- and- seventh in the MEC dishing out 3.6 assists per night.
Fairmont State (16-5 11-5 MEC) is coming off a 79-71 win over Concord last time out. Ilishia Washington paced Fairmont with 17 points- Dale Bonner stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points- eight assists- and- seven rebounds- while Isaiah Sanders (16-) and- Kenzie Melko (13) also tallied double digits. Fairmont shot 47 percent from the field- 36 percent (9-25) from the 3-point line- and- shot at a 63 percent clip from the foul line in the win over the Mountain Lions. The Fighting Falcons come into the game scoring a MEC fourth best (86.8 points per game-) while defensively they give up a MEC sixth best 79.8 points per night.They are third in margin in the conference +7.) Fairmont is averaging a MEC seventh best 35.3 rebounds per night- while they allow a MEC ninth best 39.1 per contest.
Dale Bonner leads the season box score as he is third in the MEC scoring 18.6 points per game- he leads the conference in assists (5.6 per game-) and- is also contributing 2.8 steals per contest. Cole Von Handorf is scoring 17.6 points per game- shooting 49 percent from the 3-point line- and- is seventh in the MEC with 2.3 makes per game. Melko is adding 15.6 points per game- while Sanders adds 12 points per night. Sanders is also sixth in the MEC in free throw percentage shooting at a 83 percent clip from the free throw line.
In the first meeting between the two teams NDC was a 85-83 winner back on January 11th. Five NDC players scored in double figures in that victory. Scarberry knocked down a trio of 3-pointer's on his way to 23 points- Burton added 17- Owens netted 14- while both Hodges and Frankland tallied 13. NDC shot 54 percent in the first meeting- 40 percent (8-20) from the 3-point line- and- 72 percent (13-18) from the free throw line. The Falcons won the rebounding battle that night 39-29. They had 16 assists- and- 15 turnovers in the contest.
Fairmont was led by 22 points from Bonner- Melko tallied 18- Von Handorf scored 16- and- Sanders had 10. The Fighting Falcons shot 46 percent from the field- 35 percent (10-29) from the 3-point line- and- 62 percent (13-21) from the free throw line. They had 19 assists- and- eight turnovers in the loss.
Other MEC Games Wednesday:
Davis & Elkins @ Charleston
West Liberty @ Glenville State
Urbana @ Frostburg State
Wheeling @ Concord
West Virginia Wesleyan @ West Virginia State (Thurs.)
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 13-3 (18-4)
Charleston 11-5 (17-5)
Fairmont State 11-5 (16-5)
West Virginia State 10-6 (15-6)
Glenville State 10-6 (13-9)
Wheeling 9-7 (12-8)
West Virginia Wesleyan 8-8 (9-13)
Frostburg State 6-10 (9-13)
NDC 6-10 (8-14)
Concord 4-12 (7-15)
Davis & Elkins 4-12 (6-16)
Urbana 4-12 (5-17)
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