The Notre Dame College Falcons had four players score in double figures paced by junior RJ Ogom who had 16 points in 19 minutes as he came off the bench for the first time this season. Ogom was joined in double figures by Gbolahan Adio with 14, Devin Haid added 12, and Andre Harris tallied 11 in the Falcons 88-67 win at the Edwin Bancroft Sports Complex on the campus of the University Of The District Of Columbia. With the win NDC imroves to 4-5. UDC falls to 4-6 after the loss.
"Thought our defense specifically in the second half was really good. Took them out of what they wanted to do and then rebounded. Offensively, we shared the ball and played together. Overall I thought it was a really good team effort," NDC head coach Mark Richmond explained.
"We are finally figuring it out," NDC senior guard Trent Williams mentioned.
Harntnel Haye got UDC on the board first but a 3-pointer by redshirt sophomore Javontae Jones put NDC on top. After NDC held a 7-4 advantage it was a 7-0 run by the Firebirds capped by a Tevin Curtis layup that gave UDC an 11-7 lead at the 15:07 mark of the opening half. Ogom would check in the game for NDC and make an impact right away. "Coach is trying different things with the lineups," Ogom mentioned. "We had a conversation about me coming off the bench. My job is to do what I can to help the team and I'm going to continue to do that."
After a layup by Ogom he would knock down a triple to put the Falcons in front 12-11. The next five points would go to UDC and they led 16-12 at the 12:15 mark. senior Davin Zeigler would knock down a long triple for NDC to cut the lead to one but the Firebirds would score at the other end. A traditional three-point play by Ogom would tie the game at 18 with 11:05 until halftime. After a Eric Morgan jumper put UDC on top NDC got a triple by Josh Dames and then a Haid 3-ball to make it a 24-20 Falcons lead with 9:35 until halftime. A Morgan hoop at the 5:41 mark tied the game at 31 but Adio hit one of NDC's seven triples in the first half to put NDC back on top. After a five point run by Ogom as he hit a pair of free throws to stretch the NDC lead to seven (40-33.) After a Simmons basket cut the NDC lead to five Andre Harris stole the ball and fed Adio for a jam to put the Falcons back up seven. Ogom would score the last points of the half and NDC led 44-35 at halftime/
Ogom went 6-8 from the field and a perfect 3-3 at the free throw line in 11 minutes to lead the Falcons in the opening stanza. Haid and Adio each added seven in the first stanza. NDC shot at a 55.2 percent clip from the field and were a sizzling 7-13 (53.8 percent) from the 3-point line in the opening 20 minutes. NDC went a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line in the half and led the rebounding battle 15-11 at halftime.
For the Firebirds Vernon Simmons led the way with 11 points in the first half, Eric Morgan added nine and Mikhai Arnold scored seven. Tevin Curtis led the way with four assists in the first half. As a team UDC shot 53.6 percent from the field, went 2-7 (28.6 percent) from the 3-point line, and 3-3 at the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
NDC came out firing in the second half. Adio hit from the 3-point line to start the frame and the Falcons were back up double digits. After three Morgan free throws Haid answered with another NDC triple. After a Curtis hoop at the 16:38 mark NDC went on a quick 5-0 burst as Harris hit a 3-pointer and Jones scored. The NDC lead would be 15 (65-50) when freshman Cam Johnson started another NDC run. This run would be 9-0 and it included a block at one end and tip in at the other by Jones and a Dames triple that made it 74-50 at the 8:55 mark. NDC would cruise to victory from that point on.
NDC shot 55.7 percent in the contest, 39.3 percent (11-28) from the 3-point line, and shot 90 percent (9-10) from the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 37-34. They had 22 assists and 17 turnovers in the contest. 11 NDC players found the score sheet in this one. They were +14 in bench points (38-24) and +12 in fast break points (24-12.) Zeigler led the team in assists with six to go with his six points as he had a tunrover free 28 minutes of action. Haid stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Harris did the same with 11 points, four rebounds, a block, and a pair of steals. Johnson added eight points and five rebounds in his 17 minutes. Dames continued his hot shooting of late as he hit two more triples in four attempts.
UDC was led by Simmons with 15 points and eight rebounds, Haye added 14 to go with a team high nine boards, Morgan added 12, while Curtis tallied 10 points, six assists, and five steals. As a team UDC shot 39.4 percent from the field, 2-12 (16.7 percent) from the 3-point line, and 81,.3 percent (13-16) at the free throw line. They had 15 assists and 15 turnovers in the contest.
Ogom gave the final thoughts:
"It was a great team win. We came in knowing what we had to do and we did a great job executing. I'm not sure we've had 22 assists as a team in any game before today, so that goes to show we are starting to figure it out."
NDC will stay in the D.C. area and take on Washington Adventist University on Monday. Tip time for that contest is set for 4 PM.
Other MEC Scores This week:
Fairmont State 117 Bethany 81 (Wed.)
Cal (PA) 94 Wheeling 90 (Wed.)
Seton Hill 69 Glenville State 57 (Wed.)
Davis & Elkins 94 Slipper Rock 85 (Thurs.)
Charleston 107 Bloomsburg 67 (Thurs,)
West Virginia State 80 University of Fort Lauderdale 60 (Fri.)
West Liberty vs Dominican (Sun.)
MEC Standings:
Charleston 5-1 (7-2)
West Liberty 4-1 (8-1)
Davis & Elkins 4-1 (8-3)
Concord 3-1 (7-1)
Glenville State 3-2 (5-5)
West Virginia State 3-3 (6-4)
Fairmont State 2-3 (6-3)
Wheeling 2-3 (4-6)
NDC 2-4 (4-5)
Frostburg State 1-5 (1-10)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-5 (1-9)
Comments