The Notre Dame College Falcons jumped out to a 33-13 lead and led wire to wire in a 79-66 win over Wheeling University in the home opener at Murphy Gym on Saturday. RJ Ogom led the Falcons with 20 points while Devin Haid added 17 in the victory. With the win NDC improved to 2-1 and 1-0 in MEC play. Wheeling fell to 1-3 and 0-1 in the MEC.
"We really came out ready to play. We got to a 20 point lead in the first half," head coach Mark Richmond explained. "We took them out of what they wanted to do early on and that led to some easy buckets. We guarded and defended, kind of relaxed a little late in the first half. They did a good job on the offensive boards. We didn't rebound as well as we would have liked. We gave them a lot of second chances. We have plenty of things to work on but we had some bright spots,"he added.
"Our energy was great. We stayed together in those tough moments. We kept the energy up even when things didn't go our way,"NDC guard Robbie Cass said.
Then he talked about making his first career start today:
"It was a good feeling. I enjoyed the moment."
RJ Ogom got to the free throw line and knocked down a pair then Andre Harris made a basket to put NDC up 4-0. The lead was cut to 6-5 after a Kevin Coleman jumper for Wheeling. The Falcons got some solid minutes from Joshua Dames as as between the 10:27 mark and the 9:17 mark of the first half he would knock down a pair of triples. NDC then ran off the next nine points as Jevontae Jones had a pair of blocks. One that led to a Devon Haid dunk and another that led to a Cam Johnson 3-pointer. Ogom would drill a 3-pointer at the 8:14 mark of the first half and NDC enjoyed their largest lead of the game at 20 (33-13.) The Cardinals would then go on a 12-0 run as a Johnson layup cut the lead to eight (33-25) with 4:40 until halftime. NDC would score the last five points of the opening half to take a 43-31 halftime lead.
Richmond talked about the spark that Dames provided:
"Josh is a guy who really competes and is learning."
"Being a part of a team like this is understanding that you're not always going to play the minutes you want but you have to find other ways to contribute to the team,"Dames said. "Cheering from the bench or when you do get in the game playing great defense and making plays for someone else. I've always been the kind of player to adjust and I understand my role. So I'll' do what it takes to help my team win on and off the court. Tonight was one of those examples, "he explained.
NDC was led in the first half by Haid with 10 points while Ogom added seven, Dames had six, and Harris added five. Haid and Kaleb Torrence each led the team with three assists in the opening 20 minutes.
Wheeling was paced by Marcus Johnson who had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half, William Gabbert had six, and Sean Ealy added five in the opening 20 minutes.
After Ealy knocked down a jumper at the 14:37 mark the NDC lead had been trimmed to four (47-43.) The lead was again four a minute later before a Kaleb Torrence hoop put the home team back up six. A dunk by Ogom at the 10:20 mark gave the Falcons a double digit lead again (58-47.) A Johnson three-point play cut the lead to eight but NDC scored the next six points as they led by 14 (64-50) at the 9:06 mark. After a Wheeling free throw NDC got another triple from Haid to stretch the lead out to 16 (67-51.) Wheeling then went on a 9-0 run to get to within eight (68-60) after a Johnson layup at the 3:02 mark. Ogom would go on a personal 4-0 run and the Falcons would cruise to victory from that point on.
Ogom was 6-9 from the floor, had a pair of blocks and went 7-8 from the free throw line. His coach talked about Ogom:
"RJ was really, really good today. The number that really stands out about him today was he was +28 in the plus minus in 22 minutes. He is a guy that we need to keep fresh to get to the finish line. He played really, really well today. He will continue to get better and better for us."
Haid was 6-8 from the field, 2-2 from the 3-point line, and 3-3 at the foul line. He added three assists and a pair of blocks in 32 minutes.
Richmond talked about Haid:
"Devin is a newer guy who has three games of college experience. He is a talented player who is still learning. He can go and get a bucket anytime he wants.
Andre Harris had eight points and a team leading 12 rebounds. Richmond talked Harris:
"Andre has been good for us. He left a few buckets around the rim today. He had the 12 rebounds today though which we really needed."
As a team NDC shot 45.2 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent (7-21) from the 3-point line, and 72.7 percent (16-22) from the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 44-41. They had 18 assists and 14 turnovers in the contest.
Wheeling was paced by Johnson who had 29 points and nine rebounds. He was just 9-26 from the floor though. Harris talked about guarding him much of the night:
"Johnson is a good player. He moves well for his size. We could've done a better job on him defensively as we need to stop giving up second chance opportunities," Harris explained. Sean Ealy was the only other Cardinal in double figures as he had 10. Ealy was 4-11 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds. As a team Wheeling shot 31.9 percent from the floor, 18.5 percent (5-27) from the 3-point line, and 70.8 percent (17-24) from the free throw line. They had nine assists and 10 turnovers in the contest.
Harris talked defense:
"Defensively we try to pride ourselves on that end of the floor. We don't like people scoring on us. Everything is going up."
"Great team win tonight. We were solid and stayed focused at the end. We need to better on rebounding and limiting our turnovers in the next games coming up, "NDC guard Kaleb Torrence explained.
Richmond gave the final thought:
"Like I said earlier we have a lot to work on but we had some bright spots. We will break down the film and make those corrections when needed."
NDC will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to the ASRC to battle West Liberty. Tip time is slated for 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
West Liberty 111 Salem 82
Charleston 81 Concord 74
Fairmont State 101 West Virginia Wesleyan 79
Davis& Elkins 85 Frostburg State 57
Glenville State 84 West Virginia State 73
MEC Standings:
Fairmont State 1-0 (4-0)
Davis & Elkins 1-0 (3-1)
Charleston 1-0 (2-1)
NDC 1-0 (2-1)
Glenville State 1-0 (1-2)
West Liberty 0-0 (4-0)
Concord 0-1 (3-1)
West Virginia State 0-1 (1-2)
Wheeling 0-1 (1-3)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-1 (1-4)
Frostburg State 0-1 (0-4)
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