The Notre Dame College Falcons will take on the Concord Mountain Lions at Murphy Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The two teams come into the game with identical records of 10-7 and 7-5 in the MEC. You can catch all the action on the Mountain East Digital Network at MountainEast.TV
Tip time is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
"Really excited for this one, an opportunity to win at home again and get back at an opponent, NDC senior Jaedon Willis said. "Important for us to dictate the type of game we want to play early."
"Huge league game for us, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond mentioned. "We came up a little short up there in early December. We need to play really well against a well coached team to get a victory. It won't be easy by any means. We will have to be well prepared."
In the first meeting NDC was an 85-80 loser at the Carter Center. DeAirius Barker led the Falcons with 17 points, Willis and Daylin Lee each had 14, Andre Harris netted 12, and Gbolahan Adio tallied 11. In that game NDC shot 40 percent from the field, 41.2 percent (7-17) from the 3-point line, and 83.3 percent (25-30) at the free throw line.
"We definitely owe them one, we just have to be under control and rebound the ball well and we should be good this time around, "Adio opined.
NDC won a pair of games last week. They were 85-81 winners at Wheeling on Wednesday and then were a 79-61 winner over Alderson Broaddus on Saturday. All five NDC players who started scored in double figures on Saturday. Willis led NDC with 22 points, both Barker and Obinna Ugwuakazi tallied 13, Tyland Crawford chipped in 11, and Jamarr Talbert notched 10. They shot 49.1 percent from the floor, 47.1 percent (8-17) from the 3-point line, and 81 percent (17-21) from the free throw line. They won the rebounding battle 35-34.
As a team the Falcons are fifth in the Mountain East Conference scoring 82.1 points per game while they allow 75.8 points per game which is second in the league. They shoot 43.7 percent from the field which is 11th in the MEC and lead the MEC in field goal percentage against (41.5 percent.) They shoot 37.4 percent from the 3-point line which is second in the MEC and are the top team in the conference on 3-point shooting percentage against (28.3 percent.) The Falcons are also second in the MEC in free throw percentage (75.3 percent.) On the glass they are -0.7 (39.2-39.9) boards per night.
Richmond talked about the keys:
"We will need to take care of the ball, rebound it, and defend. If we do those three things we will have a chance."
He continued:
"We will need to make the right plays offensively and take care of the ball. We will need to go get it off the glass when they miss as well."
The Falcons are led by Willis who is second in the MEC pouring in 21.7 points per game. The senior from Baltimore is third in the MEC in 3-point percentage (43.8,) fourth in 3-pointer's made per game (2.9,) He is second on the team in assists per game (2.4 per night.) He is ninth in the MEC in minutes played (31.8 minutes per night.) Barker joins him in double figures at 11.2 points per night. The redshirt sophomore from Cincinnati Princeton leads the team in assists dishing out 3.1 per night.
Richmond talked about offense some more:
"We will take what the defense gives us. We are a good shooting 3-point shooting team but the fact that we have taken so many 3-pointer's early in the game of late is not by design. Teams do a good job of protecting the paint especially early in the game. It seems less breakdowns happen early in the game. As the game goes on it gets easier to crack in there (the paint.) We want our players to shoot open shots. For whatever reason the last couple games they have been three's. It is important to get off to a good start. "
Concord had five players score in double figures in the first meeting in December. Javon Laidler scored 17, the trio of Ethan Heller, Lual Rahama, and Da'vion Moore each tallied 13. Jordan Wooden also scored in double figures with 11. The Mountain Lions shot 43.9 percent from the field, 31.6 percent (6-19) from the 3-point line and 60 percent (21-35) from the free throw line in that one.
The Mountain Lions are losers of three straight. Last time out they lost 81-79 to Glenville State. Rahama scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Jevon Laidler tallied 15, and Jordan Wooden scored 14.
Rahama leads the Mountain Lions in scoring putting up 16.4 points per game, he is the top rebounder in the MEC (10.3 boards per contest.) He is also seventh in the MEC in field goal percentage (49.1 percent.)
Richmond talked about Rahama:
"Obviously Rahama is playing at a high level. Anytime you can average double digit rebounds per game is pretty impressive."
JJ Harper puts up 13.6 points per game and is fourth in the MEC blocking 1.3 shots per night. Ethan Heller also averages in double figures at 10.9 per contest.
Richmond talked about Moore, Harper, and Laidler.
"Da'vion is a guy who hurt us down there. He is one of the bigger guys in our league (Six Foot Seven 209 lbs.) who has some length. Laidler and Harper are bigger wings that affect shots. They are good defensively due to there length and size."
Richmond gave the final thoughts:
"We will have to do a good job passing the ball and getting good shots. When we get around the rim we will have to finish those. I am to anxious to see if we do a better job than we did the first time around."
Other MEC Games Wednesday:
Davis & Elkins @ West Liberty
Glenville State @ Alderson Broaddus
West Virginia State @ Fairmont State
Charleston @ Frostburg State
West Virginia Wesleyan @ Wheeling
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 10-2 (15-3)
Charleston 10-2 (13-5)
West Virginia State 9-3 (15-3)
Fairmont State 9-3 (14-4)
Glenville State 8-4 (12-6)
Concord 7-5 (10-7)
NDC 7-5 (10-7)
Davis & Elkins 4-8 (10-8)
Alderson Broaddus 3-9 (5-12)
Wheeling 2-10 (4-14)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-10 (2-14)
Frostburg State 1-11 (5-13)
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