The Notre Dame College Falcons and West Liberty Hilltoppers both came into Tuesday's game undefeated and the Falcons stayed that way after a 82-81 win.
Tyland Crawford talked about the win:
"It sounds great, amazing to say that we beat the #14 team in the country. We should get some national recognition but we're not going to worry about that right now," Crawford stated.
Coach Mark Richmond agreed:
" I am really proud of our guys. We competed and found a way to win. It's not the way we drew it up but our guys stepped up and made some big plays including free throws down the stretch,"Richmond explained.
NDC Guard Jaedon Willis talked about the difference in the game:
"We knew coming in that they were scoring 105 points a game but 75 of them were in the paint. We were going to take charges, rebound, make them kick out and take some tough shots. They made some but we knew they couldn't do that the whole game, "Willis said.
The game started with West Liberty going up 12-8 in the first six minutes. NDC would take the lead 16-15 lead after a Lameen Carter hoop with 12:20 on the clock in the opening half. After a John Godinez jumper NDC trailed 28-25 but the Hilltoppers would use the full court pressure to go on a 10-0 run to go up 38-25 with 4:37 in the half.
Willis talked about that:
We knew they were going to press the whole game so they would get some steals, and that was the case."
After West Lib took a 43-29 lead the Falcons would start to cut into the lead. A 9-0 NDC run would make it 43-38 after a Willis jumper. West Lib would score the last four points of the half to make it 47-38.
NDC shot 53 percent from the field, and 55 percent from the 3-point line in the opening stanza. They were just one of four at the free throw line.
Tyland Crawford talked about the first half a little bit:
" We rushed some shots in the first half. We did not play great but we did not play badly, "Crawford mentioned.
Willis agreed:
"We got punched in the mouth in the first half, but we punched back."
The Falcons were led by 10 points from Crawford to go with seven each from John Godinez and Willis.
West Liberty was led in the first half by 12 points each from Christian Montague and Pat Robinson. They shot 47 percent from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point line (6-12) and 40 percent (2-5) from the free throw line.
NDC came out in the second half as they would battle back to take a 53-51 lead after a Daylin Lee 3-pointer, and a pair of Crawford free throws.
Coach Richmond talked about Lee:
"Daylin really settled in tonight. He was a little anxious in the Wheeling game on Saturday, but he really came up big for us. It was his first win in a couple years. (after playing at West Virginia Wesleyan last season.)
The teams would go back and forth until a quick spurt by the Falcons that included a Mike Sampson layup and a Godinez 3-pointer made it 66-62 with 8:32 to go. The game would be tied at 73 with three minutes on the clock. After Crawford and Malik McKinney traded buckets it was tied at 75 with 2:23 to go. Lee knocked down a triple and then NDC went up five after a no look pass by Crawford to Gbolohan Adio made it 80-75 with 1:04 on the clock.
Crawford talked about what he saw:
"Honestly I saw the guy stop and I figured it was an easy dump off. I think he (Adio) wanted the alley-oop but I made the easy play."
The Hilltoppers would get a pair of buckets to pull within one (80-79) with 17 seconds on the clock. Barker knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to make it a three point game (82-79) with 14 ticks remaining.
Barker got praise from his coach:
" DeAirius has some really good instincts. He really helped us rebound, along with Mike (Sampson.)
After a Robinson layup cut the lead to one (82-81) with nine ticks on the clock NDC called a timeout. West Liberty would get a turnover and a Montague 3-pointer would not fall as Murphy Gym erupted.
Willis took you inside the final play:
" We knew going in that #23 (Pat Robinson) wanted to go left and Mike (Sampson) did a good job of forcing him to the right. DeAirius (Barker) was there on the help, and we got the result that we needed."
NDC (4-0 2-0 MEC) was paced by Crawford with 21 points. He was one of five players in double figures in the victory. Willis added 14 and a team leading five assists, while Sampson scored 11 points to go with a game high 15 rebounds. Lee notched 11 of his own and Godinez netted 10. NDC shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point line (10-20,) and 71 percent (10-14) from the free throw line. NDC had 19 assists and 22 turnovers in the contest. They won the rebounding battle 45-32.
West Liberty (4-1 1-1 MEC) was paced by Robinson with 21, Butler scored 17, Montague added 12, and McKinney had 10. The Hilltoppers shot 44 percent as a team, 35 percent (8-23) from the 3-point line, 47 percent (9-19) at the free throw line. They had 18 assists and 10 turnovers in this one.
Richmond talked about what a big difference free throw shooting was:
"I feel like we fouled the right guys. They were trying to exploit some mismatches and it was mostly their post players shooting the free throws so that definitely worked to our advantage."
He talked about breaking the game down into five minute segments:
"I actually talked to the team this week about breaking this game down into five minute segments. We watched the West Lib-AB game as a team, and talked about that. We won four our of the last five segments (last one of the first half, and three of four in the second half which was huge for us."
Crawford talked about the offense flowing better in the second half:
"We swung the ball and I found myself in some good spots. A lot of guys made plays down the stretch. Everyone was ready when their number was called."
That last play was a little scary but we got the result that we wanted.,"he added.
Richmond then talked about building off this one:
"It has not been an easy last few years for us. Obviously last year was a unique season for everyone and doing things like getting your own players is tough to do in that case. I felt good though going into the offseason having won the last four. I thought we would get off to a good start this year. Maybe not 4-0 to be honest, but as I said yesterday West Liberty is the barometer in this league. We know now that we can play with anybody in this league on any given night if we play the way we should."
NDC will take a break for the holiday and be back in action December 1st when they travel to Glenville State to face the Pioneers. Tip time for that one will be 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores:
Charleston 81 Glenville State 62
Fairmont State 96 West Virginia Wesleyan 58
Davis & Elkins 82 Frostburg State 75
Alderson Broaddus 83 Wheeling 80
(non-conference) West Virginia State 71 Morehouse 66
MEC Standings:
Fairmont State 2-0 (5-0)
NDC 2-0 (4-0)
Charleston 2-0 (4-1)
West Liberty 1-1 (4-1)
Alderson Broaddus 1-1 (3-2)
Davis & Elkins 1-1 (2-3)
Frostburg State 1-1 (1-4)
West Virginia State 0-0 (3-2)
Glenville State 0-1 (1-2)
Concord 0-1 (1-3)
Wheeling 0-2 (2-3)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-2 (1-4)
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