The Notre Dame College Falcons rebounded literally and figuratively with a 132-71 thrashing of Wright State Lake inside Murphy Gymnasium. The Falcons pounded the Lakers on the boards 63-20 in the win.
Coach Mark Richmond talked about his team's mindset changing going into this one:
" I was really proud of our effort and the fact that we played super hard tonight. We watched a lot of film today- and- after watching that film our guys were really disappointed about how Monday went. We came out motivated and ready to play tonight. We played well on both ends- taking charges on defense- sharing the ball on offense and not turning it over." Richmond stated.
The Falcons (1-3) had nine players see action tonight and eight of them scored in double figures. Bryce Douglas poured in a game high 27 points- to go along with nine rebounds- and- six assists. Dan Lott came off the bench to score 18 with seven rebounds- while Dae John Walker-Bey tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bruce Hodges also tallied 16 to go with eight boards- while Levi Frankland scored 13. Randy Slink and Jordan Burton netted 12 points each- as Burton also tallied seven assists. Larenz Thurman rounded out the double digit scorers posting 11 points- dishing out eight assists- and- grabbing six rebounds. As a team NDC shot 59 percent from the field- 42 percent (13-31) from the 3-point line- and- 64 percent (7-11) from the free throw line. The Falcons as mentioned earlier buried the Lakers on the glass 63-20. They had 32 assists- and- eight turnovers as a team in this one.
Frankland talked big picture:
"Tonight was a great morale booster, good to see everyone play together. Onto the next one Saturday."
Hodges agreed:
"It was great to get coach his first win and we came out ready to play. It led to good things."
Richmond also talked about the return of big man Marek Hulva from injury and what it meant having some more size out there:
" Marek was definitely a bright spot tonight. It was nice having some more size out there. He played hard- rebounded well- and- adjusted well. He got us a few run outs on the break. As a team the effort was contagious by everyone today and it was good to see. I tried to divide the minutes up pretty evenly of the bigs with Drew (Scarberry) being out."
Another big key was taking care of the ball Richmond talked about:
"Tonight and also in the second half of the Edinboro game we took better care of the ball and good things happened. Obviously we shot well tonight- but taking care of the ball meant we got 25 more shots than they did."
Lott talked about what he saw tonight:
" Great energy all around from pre game on. Seeing Bryce get us going early with those four 3's had us all going."
The Lakers (2-9) were paced by Reggie Priah with 20 points- Charles Aden added 19 and six rebounds- while Tahj Benton scored 17 to go along with five assists. As a team Wright State Lake shot 37 percent- while they shot 34 percent (12-35) from the 3-point line- they also shot at a 78 percent clip from the free throw line (7-9.) The Lakers had 11 assists and 15 turnovers as a team.
Hodges would get NDC going early as he would score the game's first four points. After it was 13-8 NDC the Falcons would run off the next six points to make it 19-8 after another Hodges lay up. The game would be a seven point difference (23-16) before the Falcons would rip off a 32-3 run keyed by four Douglas 3-pointer's to open a 36 point lead (55-19.) NDC would ultimately take a 39 point lead (68-29) into halftime.
The Falcons shot 60 percent from the floor in the opening half- 47 percent (8-17) from the 3-point line- and- two of two from the free throw line. NDC held a 30-12 advantage on the glass as well. They had 18 assists and four turnovers as a team in the first 20 minutes.
The Lakers shot 33 percent from the field- and- 35 percent (7-20) from the 3-point line (7-20) from in the half. They missed the only free they attempted as a team. The Lakers had six assists as opposed to 12 turnovers in the first half.
NDC came out firing on all cylinders in the second half just like they did in the first. The lead would grow to 47 (88-41) after a Thurman 3-pointer with 14:36 to go. At the halfway mark of the second stanza after a dunk by Walker-Bey the Falcons led by 52 (106-54.) NDC would lead by as many as 66 before securing the first win of the season.
Richmond then spoke about Saturday's game coming up:
" Obviously now we have to bounce back as we play again on Saturday. This is a player's dream though- as we have been playing all these games lately with basically no practice time. We will be ready to step up our game even more. It was good to get some players in there and get there feet wet tonight. Guys like Bryce- Lott- and- Randy really stepped up. We know we will need some of these guys down the road and I was hesitant to put them in those first few games because they don't have the experience."
NDC and Wheeling University will battle Saturday at 2 PM at the McDonough Center. The game that was originally scheduled to be played at Murphy Gym was moved due to the football home playoff game Saturday. You can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
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