The Notre Dame College Falcons (11-11 6-10 MEC) take on the West Virginia State University Yellow Jackets (16-6 11-4 MEC) at 4 PM on Saturday at the Walker Convocation Center. You can catch all the action on MountainEast.TV
NDC is coming off a 86-67 loss to Charleston on Wednesday night. Andre Harris paced the Falcons with 17 points while Devin Haid added 16 and Josh Dames tallied nine off the bench. NDC shot 36.5 percent from the field, 4-26 (15.4 percent) from the 3-point line and 65.4 percent (17-26) from the free throw line in the defeat. As a team the Falcons score an MEC sixth best 81.9 points per game, shoot an MEC seventh best 44.7 percent from the field, an MEC seventh best 34.6 percent from the 3-point line, and are 10th in the MEC shooting 69.3 percent from the free throw line. NDC is dishing out an MEC fourth best 14.95 assists per game, is sixth in turnover margin and fifth in assist to turnover ratio. On defense the Falcons are seventh in the MEC in field goal percentage against (44.3 percent,) are sixth in the MEC at guarding the 3-point line (33.9 percent,) get out rebounded by 0.9 (38.1-39.0) rebounds per night which is seventh in the MEC while they block an MEC third best 4.32 shots per game which is 25th in the country. Haid is 10th in the MEC in scoring at 14.2 points per game. The Wooster native is fourth in the MEC shooting at a 48.2 percent clip from the field, the redshirt sophomore shoots free throws at an MEC seventh best 82.5 percent, while he is ninth in blocks per game (0.9) and nabs an MEC eighth best 1.5 steals per contest. Harris scores 12.6 points per game. The Brush product pulls down an MEC sixth best 6.4 rebounds per night. RJ Ogom chips in 10.5 points per game while he shoots at an MEC third best 85,1 percent clip from the free throw line. Gbolahan Adio leads the team dishing out 2.5 assists per night. In the first meeting with the Yellow Jackets on January 10th (a 73-66 loss) Haid scored 19 and pulled down 11 rebounds while Harris netted 13. In that contest NDC shot 38.2 percent from the field, 18.5 percent (5-27) from the 3-point line, and 47.4 percent (9-19) from the free throw line.
West Virginia State is coming off a 87-74 win over Salem last time out. Bunky Brown and Kalil Camara led the Yellow Jackets with 15, Nate Mims scored 14, while Miguel Martinez and Anthony Pittman scored 13. WVSU shot 61.5 percent from the floor, 43.8 percent (7-16) from the 3-point line and 76.2 percent (16-21) from the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets are scoring an MEC second best 85.8 points per game, shoot an MEC third best 46.7 percent from the field, an MEC third best 36.3 percent from the 3-point an MEC fourth best 74.4 percent from the free throw line while they dish out an MEC seventh best 12.68 assists per night. They are also third in turnover margin and eighth in assist to turnover ratio. Defensively they give up an MEC fifth best 78.1 points per game, are third in field goal percentage against (43.1 percent,) second in the conference at guarding the 3-point line (31.8 percent.) The Yellow Jackets out rebound the opposition by 2.6 (40.2-37.6) rebounds per night which is fifth in the MEC. They are second in the MEC and 12th in the country blocking 4.68 blocked shots per game. Pittman is the engine that makes the Yellow Jackets go. He scores 17.4 points per game which is fourth in the MEC, 7.6 rebounds per game which is second in the conference, shoots 79.4 percent from the free throw line which is eighth in the league, shoots 47.7 percent from the floor which is second in the conference, is 10th in assist to turnover ratio, and leads the MEC getting 2.4 steals per contest. Cox puts up 12.4 points per game, Mims adds 11.6 per night to go with an MEC fifth best 1.2 blocks per game. Miguel Martinez scores 11.5 points per game while Mahzi Thames nets 10.2 per night. In the first meeting with the Falcons Thames had 15, Martinez added 11, and Cox chipped in 10. The Yellow Jackets shot 40.6 percent from the floor, 28.6 percent (6-21) from the 3-point line, and 75 percent (15-20) from the free throw line.
"We need to share the ball and play team defense while being the tougher team on the glass and winning the 50/50 balls," Dames explained.
Other MEC Games Saturday:
Glenville State @ West Virginia Wesleyan
Fairmont State @ West Liberty
Frostburg State @ Wheeling
Salem @ Charleston
Concord @ Davis & Elkins
MEC Standings:
Charleston 14-2 (19-3)
West Liberty 12-3 (18-5)
Concord 11-4 (18-4)
West Virginia State 11-4 (16-6)
Fairmont State 10-6 (17-6)
Davis & Elkins 8-7 (13-10)
Glenville State 6-9 (11-12)
NDC 6-10 (11-11)
Wheeling 4-12 (7-15)
Frostburg State 2-14 (2-21)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-14 (2-21)
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