The Notre Dame College Falcons (0-2) open the home portion of the 2021 schedule on Saturday, as they begin a three game home stand with the University of Charleston. Tip time is set for 4:30 PM at Murphy Gym. You can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com and on the MEC.TV portal.
Coach Mark Richmond set up the matchup for Saturday:
" Charleston has a couple guys in both Lamont McManus and Seth O'Neal who are both experienced. They are the two guys who get them going. They also have six or seven other guys who can really play, and have some really young pieces. From our end we are excited to be home for three straight games. The guys will be ready. It will be important for us to get off to a good start. They continue to get better. Obviously it was two very tough matchups on the road to start the season in West Liberty and West Virginia State, "Richmond explained.
NDC (0-2) is coming off a 93-85 loss to West Virginia State last time out. Tyland Crawford led NDC with 18 points- Jordan Roland netted 17- Jordan Burton tallied 16- John Godinez provided 12 off the bench- and- Michael Sampson tallied 11. The Falcons shot 49 percent from the field- 27 percent from the 3-point line- and- 78 percent (18-23) from the free throw line in the loss. NDC is seventh in the MEC scoring 81 points per game- while defensively they are allowing 95.5 points per contest in the early going. They are fifth in the MEC shooting 36 percent from the 3-point line- and- are second in the early season in the conference in free throw shooting as they are shooting at a 77 percent clip from the free throw line.
As a team the Falcons are also shooting a MEC second best 49.6 percent from the field- and- shooting at a MEC fifth best 36 percent from the 3-point line.
Burton leads the early season box score putting up a team leading, and MEC sixth 20 points per contest, and is also sixth in the conference in free throw percentage , shooting at a 93 percent clip- Roland is netting 17 per game- and- Crawford is contributing 13.5 points per contest. Sampson is leading the Falcons on the glass averaging 6.5 rebounds per contest- with Elijah Barnett just behind him at six rebounds per night.
Charleston (1-2) is coming off their first win of the season, as they defeated Alderson Broaddus 94-82 on Wednesday night. McManus paced the Golden Eagles with 24 points, and five rebounds. O'Neal scored 17 points, and dished out six assists- while Shaunta Wilson (14 points-) and- Tyler Eberhart (10) points also scored double figures in the victory. Prior to the win over AB on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles had a pair of two points losses (64-62) to Concord- and- 72-70 to Glenville State. In the win over Alderson Broaddus, the Golden Eagles shot 57 percent from the floor- 33 percent (6-18) from the 3-point line- and- 86 percent (18-21) at the free throw line. The Golden Eagles are averaging 75.3 points per night on the offensive end- while defensively they are allowing an MEC leading 72.7 points per night. They also lead the MEC offensively shooting 50 percent from the field in the early season.
O'Neal leads the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game- while he is dishing out an MEC third best 5.2 assists per night. McManus is scoring 14 points per contest- and- is second in the MEC shooting at a 63 percent clip from the free throw line.
Richmond talked about the defense against Charleston:
" They will throw the ball in the paint. McManus is one of the most talented guys in our league. Help will be important for us. We need to execute the game plan. We need to move bodies, and guard as a group. For the most part we have done a good job on the ball. What we need to do better is communicate and talk to each other when they run some different sets. Not too many things that we have not seen at this point of the season, but when they throw some new things at us we need to adjust. Things like talking out switches, and making some minor adjustments like that."
He also talked about the fact that Charleston has good shooters, and NDC needs to stick to it's game plan:
" They have some good shooters, but for whatever reason they have not shot it well thus far this season. O' Neal, and Colbert hit a bunch of three's- and- that really hurt us last year. Keith Williams did not play in the first two games this season, and he hurt us as well. We need to stick to our game plan, rebound, move bodies, and get out and run when we have the opportunity so we can get some easy baskets."
Other MEC Games Saturday:
Fairmont State @ Wheeling
Glenville State @ West Virginia Wesleyan
West Virginia State @ Alderson Broaddus
Concord @ Davis & Elkins
Frostburg State @ West Liberty
MEC North:
West Liberty 3-0
Fairmont State 2-1
Frostburg State 1-1
Alderson Broaddus 1-2
Wheeling 0-1
NDC 0-2
MEC South:
Glenville State 3-0
Concord 2-1
West Virginia State 2-1
Davis & Elkins 1-2
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-3
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