The Notre Dame College Falcons (2-5 1-4 MEC) return home for just the teams third home contest of the season when they take on the West Virginia Wesleyan College Bobcats (1-8 0-4 MEC) on Saturday afternoon. Tip time from Murphy Gym is slated for 4 PM and you can catch all the action on MountainEast.TV
"We are looking to play a 40 minute game against Wesleyan on Saturday," NDC head coach Mark Richmond mentioned.
The Falcons are coming off a 102-79 road loss to Davis& Elkins last time out. Redshirt sophomore Devin Haid paced the Falcons with 17 points and six rebounds, redshirt junior Andre Harris netted 13, while redshirt junior RJ Ogom had 11, and freshman Cameron Johnson tallied 10. Senior Davin Zeigler playing in his first game with the Falcons tied for the second most steals in a game in program history with seven. NDC scores an MEC sixth best 81.1 points per game, while on defense they are ninth in the conference giving up 87 points per night. NDC shoots an MEC ninth best 30.4 percent from the 3-point line while they are seventh defending the 3-point arc as the opposition shoots 35.1 percent. The Falcons are shooting at a 74.6 percent clip from the free throw line which is third in the conference. On the glass the Falcons are -2.1 (42.0-44.1) rebounds per game which is eighth in the MEC. They are second in the conference in offensive rebounds getting 14 per night. As a team they lead the MEC and are fifth in all of Division II blocking 5.86 shots per game. Haid leads the team and is eighth in the MEC scoring 14.4 points per game. The Wooster native leads the MEC and is second in the country shooting 96.4 percent at the free throw line, and is fourth in the MEC as well as 14th in the country blocking 1.6 shots per game. Haid is also sixth in the MEC playing 31.4 minutes per contest. Ogom is 10th in the MEC scoring 13.6 points per game, he is second in the MEC shooting 94.6 percent from the foul line which is 13th in the country, and is tied for sixth in the conference blocking 1.3 shots per game. Harris nets 12.4 points per game, leads the MEC in rebounding (8.7 per night,) is fifth in field goal percentage (44.9 percent) and 10th in the MEC in steals per game (1.4 per contest.) junior Gbolahan Adio also averages in double figures (11.6 points per game) and leads the team dishing out 2.7 assists per contest.
The Bobcats have lost eight straight since an opening win over Edinbooro.
Richmond had this to say about the Bobcats:
"They are much improved and have some really talented offensive players. We will have to guard the bounce and limit dribble penetration against them."
Last time out WVWC was a 80-72 loser to Salem. Alex Mirhosseini led the Bobcats with 23 points, Dieker Padrino had 15, and Maxwell Harris tallied 10. On the season the Bobcats score 80.1 points per game which is seventh in the MEC while defensively they give up an MEC worst 97.1 points per night. WVWC shoots an MEC fourth best 43.5 percent from the field while on defense they allow the opposition to shoot 49.6 percent which is last in the MEC. From the 3-point line the Bobcats sit fourth shooting 36 percent while guarding the 3-point line they are sixth as the oppostion shoots 34.8 percent. The Bobcats are the top free throw shooting team in the conference shooting at a 78.3 percent clip while on the glass they are last in the conference (-10.6) boards per contest (32.2-42.8.) Padrino is fourth in the MEC scoring 16.1 points per game. He is also ninth in field goal percentage in the conference (42 percent) and is the most prolific 3-point shooter in the conference (47.4 percent) as well as making 3.3 triples per contest which is first in the MEC. His two steals per game are also good for fifth in the MEC. Mirhosseini nets 12.9 points per game while he leads the team and is seventh in the MEC dishing out 3.6 assists per night. He is also eighth in assist to turnover ratio in the MEC. Harris scores 10.4 points per game and leads the team as well as being tied for fourth in the MEC grabbing 7.1 rebounds per night.
The NDC players weighed in on the importance of this one:
"We need to focus on playing the right way and getting back on track," Adio mentioned.
"Gotta get back on the right track with a conference win at home," NDC junior Kaleb Torrence said.
"All I can say is we need this one. Take it one game at a time and one day at a time," NDC senior Trent Williams added.
Other MEC Games Saturday:
Charleston @ Wheeling
Glenville State @ Frostburg State
Davis & Elkins @ Salem
West Virginia State @ West Liberty
MEC Standings:
Charleston 5-0 (6-1)
Davis & Elkins 4-1 (6-3)
Concord 3-1 (7-1)
West Liberty 3-1 (7-1)
West Virginia State 3-2 (5-3)
Glenville State 2-2 (4-4)
Fairmont State 2-3 (5-3)
Wheeling 1-3 (3-5)
NDC 1-4 (2-5)
Frostburg State 1-4 (1-9)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-4 (1-8)
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