The Notre Dame College Falcons and West Liberty Hilltoppers will meet for the second time this season on Wednesday, this one being at the Athletic Sport and Recreational Center "ASRC" on the campus of West Liberty. Tip time is scheduled for 7:30 PM. You can catch all the action on the Mountain East Digital Network at MountainEast.TV
NDC head coach Mark Richmond talked about the challenge ahead:
"Obviously a massive test on the road against a team that has been on a really good streak of late. West Lib is playing as well as anyone in the country. We will have to play really well to give ourselves a chance to win in a hostile environment,"Richmond explained.
NDC (15-11 12-8 MEC) is coming off a 95-77 loss at home to West Virginia State on Saturday in which they fell behind 21-2. Richmond talked about that briefly:
"We obviously can't get off to a rough start in any game let alone 21-2. I don't think that is going to be a problem, our guys have done a pretty good job for the most part and I expect Wednesday to be the same way."
In Saturday's game Jaedon Willis led the Falcons with 27 points while Tyland Crawford added 17. NDC shot 44 percent from the field and 17 percent (3-18) from the 3-point line in the game. They shot 82 percent (18-22) from the free throw line. As a team NDC is seventh in the MEC scoring 79.6 points per game, while defensively they are third in the conference giving up 78.5 points per night. They shoot 47 percent from the field which is seventh in the conference and an MEC fourth best 37 percent from the 3-point line. At the free throw line the Falcons shoot at an MEC fifth best 74 percent on the year. On the boards NDC is seventh in the MEC being out-rebounded by 1.4 (34.5-35.9) rebounds per night.
Freshman Jamarr Talbert talked about his team:
"We have a good opportunity to knock off a top ten team on Wednesday. We did not have our best effort last game and we have a chance to turn things around next game.Defensively I think we can control the West Lib press and on offense the key is to move the ball. When we have good games our assists numbers are high and I think we got away from that last game,"Talbert said.
Willis leads the Falcons, is 22nd in the country and fourth in the MEC pouring in 21 points per game. The junior from Baltimore is 10th in Division II in points scored with 546. He leads the MEC and is 24th in the country making 3.08 3-pointer's per contest. Willis is sixth in the MEC shooting at an 84 percent clip from the free throw line. He is 25th in the country in free throws made (139,) is ninth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio, is third in the MEC shooting at a 39 percent clip from the 3-point line as well as dishing out 3.1 assists per game. Crawford is scoring 12.1 points per game and is grabbing 6.1 rebounds per night while playing an MEC ninth best 34.3 minutes per contest. Mike Sampson is scoring 10.7 points per game while hauling in an MEC sixth best eight rebounds per night. The Houston native is getting two steals per game to lead the team.
In the first meeting with West Liberty on 11/23 the Falcons came away with an 82-81 win. Richmond talked about the key to that one:
"The key in that game was taking care of the ball."
In that game NDC was paced by Crawford with 21 while he was joined in double figures by Willis (14,) Sampson (11 points and 15 rebounds,) Daylin Lee (11,) and John Godinez (10.) NDC shot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent (10-20) from the 3-point line in that contest.
West Liberty (24-2 18-2 MEC) comes into Wednesday riding a 10 game win streak. Last time out was a 110-107 overtime win over Fairmont State on the road on Saturday. Richmond talked about it:
"They are coming off a big win at a really tough place to play on Saturday. The thing about playing against them is they want you to shoot it quick. You have to be judicious about when you take chances against this team. As for the press I think our team is built for this. We don't have the biggest team so we can have four of five guys out there who can handle the ball most of the time."
Bryce Butler had 30 points in Saturday's win and is the reigning MEC Player Of The Week. Other players in double figures on Saturday were Pat Robinson (25,) Marlon Moore (18,) and Christian Montague (10.) The Hilltoppers shot 59 percent from the field and 30 percent (6-20) from the 3-point line as well as 52 percent (12-23) at the free throw line. West Lib is the top team in the MEC and the nation scoring 100.3 points per game, while on defense they are giving up an MEC fifth best 79.3 points per night. They shoot 51 percent from the field which is second in the MEC and eighth in the country. WLU leads the MEC shooting 39 percent from the 3-point line, is seventh in the MEC shooting 72 percent at the free throw line as well as being second in the conference on the boards out-rebounding the opposition by 4.7 (38.8-34.1) rebounds per night. The Hilltoppers are also first in the country in margin and third in steals per game (11 per night) in the country. Pat Robinson leads the Hilltoppers and is fifth in the conference putting up 20.5 points per game. He is 16th in the country in total points (532.) Robinson leads WLU and is ninth in the MEC dishing out 3.5 assists per game and is eighth in field goal percentage (51.3 percent.) Butler has been another key cog for WLU as he is scoring 17.9 points per game (10th in the MEC,) is seventh in rebounds per game (7.3) and third in field goal percentage (60 percent.) Montague leads DII in assist to turnover ratio. The Hilltoppers also have two players (Victor Kovacevic and Marlon Moore) who are in the top 10 in block shots with Kovacevic(1.0 blocks per game which is sixth) and Moore getting 0.9 blocks per game which is eighth in the conference.
In the first meeting with NDC Robinson led West Lib with 21, Butler added 17, Montague scored 12, and Malik McKinney tallied 10. They shot 44 percent from the field, 35 percent (8-23) from the 3-point line and 47 percent (9-19) from the free throw line.
Other MEC Games Wednesday:
Glenville State @ Charleston
Fairmont State @ West Virginia Wesleyan
Concord @ West Virginia State
Frostburg State @ Davis & Elkins
Alderson Broaddus @ Wheeling
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 18-2 (24-2)
West Virginia State 16-4 (21-6)
Charleston 16-4 (21-5)
Fairmont State 15-5 (21-5)
NDC 12-8 (15-11)
Concord 10-10 (13-13)
Glenville State 8-12 (12-13)
Alderson Broaddus 8-12 (11-14)
Wheeling 7-13 (8-18)
Frostburg State 5-15 (7-19)
Davis & Elkins 4-16 (6-20)
West Virg
inia Wesleyan 1-19 (2-24)
Atlantic Region Rankings (Updated 2.23:)
West Liberty
Indiana (PA)
Fairmont State
Cal (PA)
MercyHurst
Pitt-Johnstown
Millersville
West Virginia State
Virginia Union
Charleston (West Va.)
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