In a game that featured 15 ties, and 12 lead changes the Notre Dame College Falcons took the West Liberty Hilltoppers down to the final minute, but a three-point play by Pat Robinson ended up being the game-winner with 42 seconds to go in a 89-84 WLU Win inside Murphy Gym. With the win West Liberty improved to 9-3 on the season, while the Falcons dropped to 4-7 in defeat.
Coach Mark Richmond talked about his team needing to learn to close out game down the stretch:
" We have definitely improved since the first meeting. We got some good contributions from the bench tonight. We just need to be more consistent. We just need to learn how to win in crunch time. We were right there tonight. This game will definitely help us down the road. We need to go, and win the game. It is disappointing to play that well for 36-37 minutes, and come up short, Richmond explained.
Will Yoakum scored the game first six points, before NDC came back to take an 11-8 lead after a pair of Jordan Burton 3-pointer's, a Roland free throw, and a Mike Sampson hoop. Mohamed Alkadi came off the NDC bench, and scored seven quick points to give the Falcons a 18-13 lead.
Richmond talked about Alkadi:
"Mohamed was really good tonight. He is a very capable scorer who is skilled, and can shoot. He is still learning on defense, but he is long, and can really help us."
After a Coye Campbell 3-pointer at the 9:55 mark of the opening half the Falcons held a 25-19 advantage. The Hilltoppers would go on a 13-0 spurt to open up a nine point lead after a Malik McKinney basket. Then the Falaacons would get a seven point run by Marquise Johnson to pull them within one (40-39) at the 3:14 mark of the half.
Richmond talked about Johnson:
"Marquise is a talented, capable scorer as well. He is really good at getting downhill, and getting to the rim, and finishing in those two on one, and three on two situations. He was really good at that especially in the first half".
It was a 46-43 West Liberty lead awat halftime. The Hilltoppers shot 44 percent from the field- and- 31 percent ( 4-13) from the 3-point line- while shooting at a 63 percent clip (10-16) from the free throw line.
NDC shot 50 percent from the field- and- 50 percent from the 3-point line (4-8-) and- 50 percent (3-6) from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.
The Falcons opened the second halfc on a 11-0 run capped off by a Tyland Crawford 3-pointer that gave them a six point lead (52-46) at the 18:20 mark. The Hilltoppers would score the next nine points to go back on top, NDC would battle back and tie the game at 57 after a pair of Crawford free throws. The game would go back and forth for the next few possessionsw, and would be tied at 63, before a Bolon 3-pointer gave WLU a 66-63 lead. NDC would retake the lead 69-68 with a pair of Burton free throws. A Burton 3-pointer at the 7:25 mark put NDC up 72-70. After a Roland layup the Falcons led 77-73 at the 4:36 mark. WLU scored the next five points, before a pair of Burton free throws gave the Falcons a 79-78 lead with 3:09 to go. The game waws again knotted at 80, before a Burton jumper gave the Falcons the lead back (82-80) with 2:20 to go. Bryce Butler would tie the game again, then Burton gave NDC a 84-82 lead with 1:43 on the clock. A Robinson hoop then tied the game again, this time at 84. A Robinson three-point play ended up putting WLU back on top for good. A pair of McKinney free throws would close the game out.
NDC was led by six players in double figures. Burton led the way with 21 points- Alkadi added 16 and nine rebounds- while Crawford had 14 to go along with six rebounds. The Falcons also got 10 points each from Roland, Sampson, and Johnson. Roland had six assists- while Sampson added 11 rebounds. As a team the Falcons shot 48 percent from the field- 47 percent (7-15) from the 3-point line- and- 77 percent (17-22) from the free throw line.
WLU was led by Yoakum- and- Robinson with 16 points each. Butler scored 14- McKinney addeMd 13- Rasille had 12- and- Bolon netted 11. The Hilltoppers shot 42 percent from the field- 22 percent (6-27) from the 3-point line- and- 76 percent (25-33) from the free throw line.
Richmond talked about his teams defense tonight:
"We did a good job of staying in front. We gave up to many points in the paint though. Most people think about West Liberty being a 3-point shooting team, but where they make there money is in second chance points. They usually out rebound teams as well, but tonight we won that battle (40-35) which gave us a chance."
Richmond talked about the end of the game:
"We gave up three layups to end the game."
Richmond talked about his bench being more consistent:
" We usually get contributions from one or two guys off the bench. We need all our guys. We just aren't consistent enough. When we will take that next step is when we get contributions from four of five guys."
Richmond talked about Sampson:
"Mike is a guy who is really efficient. He brings great energy, and rebounds really well. You don't have to call plays for him. He impacts the game in so many ways. These are the reason why he plays as many minutes as he does."
Lastly Richmond talked about the schedule being so different this year:
"We are kind of running out of time here. We only have five games left. Normally at this time we would be going on christmas break, but we need to grow, and better so we can roll into the conference tournament."
NDC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Fairmont State. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM at Joe Retton Arena.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
Fairmont State 87 Wheeling 73
Charleston 101 West Virginian Wesleyan 85
Concord 87 Davis & Elkins 82 (OT)
Glenville State vs West Virginia State- ppd.
MEC North Standings:
Fairmont State 8-2
West Liberty 9-3
Alderson Broaddus 6-5
NDC 4-7
Frostburg State 3-7
Wheeling 2-7
MEC South Standings:
Charleston 10-2
Glenville State 7-2
West Virginia State 6-4
Concord 5-5
Davis & Elkins 3-7
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-12
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