The Notre Dame College Falcons used a huge night from the starting five- and- rolled to a 95-76 win over Wheeling Jesuit on Wednesday night at Murphy Gym. With the victory NDC improved to 12-5 and 8-3 in the MEC. After the defeat the Cardinals fall to 2-15 and 1-10 in the MEC. In the process the Falcons swept Wheeling for the first time in school history.
Will Vorhees led NDC with a season high 41 points and eight rebounds- he was one of three Falcons to score in double figures in the contest. Vorhees also added two blocks and a pair of steals on the night. He now needs nine rebounds to get to 1,000 in his career. Halil Parks scored 20 points- grabbed eight rebounds- and- had three assists in the contest. Drew Scarberry knocked down six 3-pointer's on his way to his 18 point night. Bruce Hodges stuffed the stat sheet as he scored two points- grabbed 11 rebounds- dished out six assists- and- also had four steals. NDC shot 52 percent as a team- 44 percent (15-34) from the 3-point line- and- 73 percent (8-11) from the free throw line. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 39-27. They had 16 assists and 14 turnovers as a team.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about the victory:
"Bruce was really good tonight. He usually does the stuff that does not show up in the box score. He makes the right pass- takes charges- makes the right rotations. He has really come on of late. As for Will what more can you say about the guy. He's a stud- has been his whole career. He turned the corner and has been playing great lately. His teammates are doing a better job of finding him in scoring areas. Sometimes he is to far out on the perimeter. His teammates are getting him the ball- and- Will is making plays."
Koenig talked about the lift the team got from Parks and Scarberry tonight:
" HP and Scarberry both gave us a huge lift tonight, We got some stops and it ignited our transition game. With the exception of a couple guarded threes in the first five minutes of the game our shot selection and execution was really good tonight. On a night when Larenz (Thurman) did not have his best shooting night some other guys stepped up. That was really big for us tonight because we have been riding Larenz a lot lately and much of this season."
Wheeling was led by Franck Kamgain and DeAndre Robinson who scored 13 points each. Tariq Woody and Zach Collins each scored 10 in the loss for the Cardinals. WJU shot 47 percent as a team- 36 percent (11-31) from the 3-point line- and- 65 percent (11-17) at the free throw line. They had 14 assists and 14 turnovers as a team.
The game was closely played in the first half. There would be three ties and six lead changes in the first 20 minutes. The game would be deadlocked at 11 with 14:47 to go in the opening half. Wheeling would hold a three point lead (24-21) with 7:38 to go until halftime. Scarberry would knock down a 3-pointer with 3:36 to go in the half to give NDC the lead. After a Woody basket gave Wheeling the lead back Vorhees would go back to work and go on a 8-0 scoring run himself to give the Falcons a 38-31 lead. After Wheeling cut the lead to five the Falcons would close the half on a 7-0 run capped by a Thurman layup to make it 45-33 at halftime.
NDC was led by 22 points from Vorhees in the first half- Parks added 10 points and five rebounds- while Scarberry had three 3-pointer's to account for his nine points. The Falcons shot 50 percent from the floor- 42 percent (8-19) from the 3-point line- and- 75 percent (3-4) at the free throw line. The Falcons led the rebounding battle 17-16 at halftime. They had eight assists and five turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Wheeling was led by Woody with eight points- and- Brendan Hoban with seven in the first 20 minutes. The Cardinals shot 45 percent in the opening half- 27 percent (4-15) from the 3-point line- and- 50 percent (3-6) from the free throw line. The Cardinals had eight assists and seven turnovers in the half.
The Falcons picked up right where they left off at halftime and went on a 9-0 run to start the second half- as Scarberry and Vorhees would account for the points on the run. NDC would lead by as many as 31- and- cruise to victory from that point on.
Hodges gave his thoughts after the win:
" Great team win tonight. We got everyone in the game which is always a goal of ours. We kept feeding the big guy and he went to work tonight. It was great to see HP hit some shots today. Thought he was feeling it tonight. We need to keep this energy up!
Vorhees talked about his teammates role of late:
" I'm not really doing anything different aside from hitting a few more difficult shots. My teammates have been doing a great job of getting me the ball in scoring areas. They have truly made themselves threats to the defense so if they collapse on me my teammates score, if they don't double then i'll score one on one. Simple but effective."
Scarberry talked about the big picture:
" Tonight showed what we can do when we really play as a team and move the ball. By Will scoring the way he did, it allowed for other people to get involved when they adjusted their defense. As for Renz (Thurman) we know he is going to knock down shots more often than not. We got faith in everyone on our team tonight. Big shout out to our guy Phil (Bessick) tonight too."
Koenig talked about how nice it was to get contributions from guys who don't play much and rebounding:
" It is nice to get tangible results. These guys bust their butts in practice everyday and it is nice to see them produce when the bright lights come on. Also we need guys to help on the glass as it leads to more shot attempts. Good job all-around tonight on the boards."
Parks spoke about the win as well:
"Great team win. Always feels even better to win at home. So we should enjoy the history we made tonight. We can not get complacent though because we have more business to take care of."
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they host Urbana. Tip time is slated for 4 PM at Murphy Gym. You can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores Wednesday:
Concord 99 Charleston 96 (2 OT)
Fairmont State 95 Glenville State 90
West Virginia Wesleyan 75 Shepherd 66
West Liberty 91 Urbana 78
West Virginia State 87 Virginia Wise 79
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 10-1 (14-2)
Fairmont State 10-1 (13-4)
NDC 8-3 (12-5)
Concord 7-4 (11-5)
Charleston 6-5 (11-6)
Shepherd 6-5 (10-7)
West Virginia State 6-5 (9-8)
West Virginia Wesleyan 4-7 (7-10)
Virginia Wise 3-8 (5-11)
Urbana 3-8 (5-10)
Glenville State 2-9 (7-10) Wheeling Jesuit 1-10 (2-15)
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