The Notre Dame College Men's basketball team will open the 2022-23 season at the Butler County Chamber of Commerce Conference Challenge hosted by Slippery Rock University on Friday and Saturday. The Falcons will battle Seton Hill at 7:30 tomorrow night before they take on the host Slippery Rock on Saturday at 6 PM. All games in the Conference Challenge will take place at Morrow FieldHouse.
"We're excited to get the season officially started, "Falcons Head Coach Mark Richmond mentioned. "These conference challenges are always a unique way to start the season. You find out a lot about your team in a 24 hour period."
Senior Guard Jaedon Willis agreed:
"We are really excited to be back playing, "Willis explained. "We know what this team is capable of and what our goals are so it is important to start fast and get this train going."
NDC already has a big win this season as they upset Division I Cleveland State 72-68 on Monday.
The duo of Willis (23 points) and DeAirius Barker (17) combined for 40 points in the exhibition win.
Richmond gave his thoughts:
"We need to use that momentum from Monday night and build off of it."
NDC is coming off a 15-14 season a year ago that included a 12-10 mark in Mountain East Conference play. Willis was an All-MEC First Team performer last season as he stuffed the stat sheet averaging 20.5 points per game, while shooting 43.4 percent from the field, and 38.8 percent from the 3-point line. Willis scored 594 total points and led the team in assists as well. Tyland Crawford also returns for his graduate year. Crawford put up 11.8 points per game and grabbed 5.9 rebounds per contest. Other key players returning include Daylin Lee, Gbolahan Adio, Barker, Jamarr Talbert, and Obinna Ugwuakazi, Last season NDC averaged 78.9 points a game while they allowed 79 points per contest. NDC shot the ball well last season as they shot 46 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from the 3-point line.
Seton Hill is coming off a 3-24 season last year. That included a 3-19 record in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play.
Richmond talked about Seton Hill:
"Seton Hill has a new coach and several new pieces, we will have to be ready to adjust and make changes during the game."
Samuel Tabe is the Griffins top returning scorer at 12.7 points per game. Jimmy Moon was also a solid contributor last season, as he netted 11 points per game, and grabbed a team leading 6.6 rebounds per contest. Also returning are Sean Dillon who netted 10.3 points per game and a team leading 93 assists last season, and Ryan Meis (10 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.) Ben Wilkins is in his first year on the sidelines for the Griffins.
Slippery Rock is coming off a 17-12 season that included a 13-9 record in the PSAC. The Rock scored 79 points per game while giving up 74.3 points per night.
Richmond talked about Slippery Rock:
"Slippery Rock is a very talented team and returns a lot of experience from a team we went to OT with last season."
The Rock shot 44.9 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from the 3-point line last year. They also out rebounded the opposition by more than four (38.5-34.4) rebounds per game. Amante Britt is the teams leading returning scorer at 13.6 points per game, and also led the team in assists dishing out 4.7 assists per night. Jonathan McFall also returns having averaged 13 points per night last season.
Willis gave his final thought prior to this one:
"We are less concerned with the other two teams but we respect them. We know it all comes down to how we play and I think our mindsets are in the right place."
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