The Notre Dame College Falcons and West Liberty Hilltoppers will do battle Sunday at WesBanco Arena with an automatic bid to the NCAA Atlantic Region on the line. Tip time is slate for 4 PM and you can catch all the action on Mountaineast.org
The third seeded Falcons (22-8) advanced to the finals after wins over West Virginia State and Fairmont State in the first two contests. NDC has had five players score in double figures in each of the two contests. Isaiah Sanders paced NDC with 20 points Saturday night. Bruce Hodges added 19- Will Vorhees scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds- while Halil Parks netted 12. Larenz Thurman stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points- eight rebounds- and- seven assists. NDC shot 56 percent from the field- 60 percent (15-25) from the 3-point line which tied an MEC tournament record for 3's made in a game. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 37-29. The Falcons had 19 assists- and- eight turnovers in the victory.
NDC Coach Tim Koenig talked about playing West Liberty:
" We have to play well to beat West Lib. You feel like a bobblehead all the subs that they run in and out of the game. They are good on both ends. We have to take care of the ball and make hustle plays in this one for sure."
Vorhees mentioned the last meeting with West Liberty:
" We felt like we should of gotten that last one at there place. It's just another game to us though."
Hodges talked big picture:
"You don't often get a chance to play in the national tournament and we get that opportunity with a win. As far as playing in front of all the West Liberty fans. It does not matter who is in the stands. It is about this team. The players and coaches on the floor is what I care about. It is an amazing feeling to have this opportunity."
Vorhees agreed:
"Like Bruce said it's about the players and the team. It does not matter who is in the stands. We can not wait for the opportunity."
The Falcons average 87.6 points a game as a team- while they allow 78.9 per night. NDC gets to the free throw line three more times than the opposition per game (16.1-13.) They are also +5.4 on the glass (39.7-34.3.)
Vorhees paces the Falcons averaging 28.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per contest. Larenz Thurman scores 17.6 points to go with more than five assists per night. Isaiah Sanders scores 12.6 per night- and- Drew Scarberry adds 10.3 per game. NDC dropped a pair of games to West Liberty in the regular season.
Top seeded West Liberty (26-3) is trying to become the first top seed ever to win the MEC Tournament. They defeated Wheeling Jesuit 100-79 on Friday night- and- then Saturday they were a 88-84 winner over Concord.
West Liberty was led by Yahel Hill with 18 points in the Wheeling game. Will Yoakum had 15- and- Eric Meininger added 14.
In the victory over Concord Saturday Meininger had 24 points and 10 rebounds- while Yoakum and Hill each scored 18. The Hilltoppers average 102.6 points per game as a team. Dalton Bolon paces there box score at 20.8 per night. Yoakum scores 14.6 per game- Meininger nets 13.9 per contest- and- Hill adds 13 a night.
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