The Notre Dame College Falcons (2-1 1-0 MEC) coming off a conference opening win at home Saturday takes on the third ranked West Liberty University Hilltoppers at the ASRC on Tuesday night. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM and you can catch all the action on MountainEast.TV
"Obviously another tough test. Facing the second top 10 team on the road in our second conference game of the year," NDC head coach Mark Richmond explained. "Never easy to go there and win. Excited to see where our guys are. We also have some guys who have never played at West Lib before so we will see how they respond," he added.
"Big opportunity tomorrow playing a good team on the road. I feel like we can really make a statement," NDC junior guard Gbolahan Adio mentioned.
"Big game tomorrow playing a top 25 team. It's going to be a great road test for us." NDC guard Kaleb Torrence stated.
NDC comes in off the win on Saturday in the home opener. They have four players averaging double figures in the young season. Devon Haid and RJ Ogom each average 16.3 points per game which is tied for fifth in the MEC. Adio is seventh in the MEC putting up 15.3 points per game, while Andre Harris nets 11.7 points per game. The Falcons lead the MEC in free throw percentage (78.6 percent,) blocks per game (5.7) and are third in the MEC allowing 72.3 points per game. Ogom leads the MEC in blocks at 2.3 per game while Harris leads the MEC in rebounds at 11 per contest which is tied for 14th in all of Division 2. Harris (sixth) and Haid (ninth) are also top ten in the MEC in blocked shots per night. On offense the Falcons are seventh in the MEC putting up 78.3 points per game. The Falcons have struggled from the 3-point line where they are only shooting 33.3 percent for the season thus far. On the glass NDC is fifth outrebounding the opposition by one (44-43) rebounds per night. The Falcons average 14 assists, 11.3 turnovers, and 6.7 steals per night. The trio of Torrence, Adio, and Robbie Cass lead the team in assists at two per game.
West Liberty (4-0 0-0 MEC) was a 111-82 winner over Salem on Saturday. Six WLU players scored in double figures led by John Korte with 16. Dante Spadafora had 15, Zach Rasile and Chaz Hinds each had 14, Kyle Daugustino added 13, and Ben Sarson tallied 10 in the win.
The Hilltoppers come in third in the country and first in the MEC averaging 109.8 points per game while they give up 66.5 points per night. WLU shoots 48.9 percent from the field which leads the MEC but shoots just 33.6 percent from the 3-point line. That was one thing Richmond pointed out:
"A lot of people think they win games because they make a lot of three's. Where they have scored most of their points though is either on second chance opportunities and off of turnovers where they have gotten layups and easy ones. Stylistically they are unique to play against. We have to make them pay when they gamble on defense. We want an up tempo game. Not many restrictions tomorrow. We need to be smart with the ball and take care of it. We have to be organized against the West Lib pressure. They are going to send two guys at the ball. We need to pass it and get it out of harm's way. We also need to get back on defense and make them defend against all five guys after we get our defense set."
Korte leads WLU at 14.3 points per game and also leads the team on the glass grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game. Hinds scores 12 per night, Spadafora puts up 11,8 per game, Montague nets 11.7 per game, and Rasile scores 10.3 per game.
Richmond talked about West Lib depth:
"They have eight-nine guys who score between nine and 14 points per game. Korte has been a seamless fit. They have talented guys 1-15. We need multiple guys to guard multiple positions against them."
WLU shoots an MEC fourth best 74 percent from the free throw line. On the glass the Hilltoppers are +.7 (40.5-39.8) rebounds per game which is fifth in the MEC. WLU averages 15.8 turnovers as well as 15.8 steals per contest. They also block 3.3 shots per game which is seventh in the MEC.
"Just have to limit turnovers, share the ball, and play unselfish on offense. We have to be dominant on the glass and have to win all the 50/50 battles," NDC guard Josh Dames added.
Torrence gave the final thought:
"It's going to be important to stay together through the good and the bad tomorrow in order for us to win."
Other MEC Games Tuesday:
Fairmont State @ Davis & Elkins
Salem @ Wheeling
Concord @ West Virginia State
Frostburg State @ West Virginia Wesleyan
Glenville State @ Charleston
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)
Kommentare