This Notre Dame College Men's basketball season was an interesting one to say the least. The Falcons started off the season with a wild one in the Conference Challenge when they rallied from 21 points down to defeat Slippery Rock in overtime. The next day the Falcons would knock off Seton Hill. After a win at Wheeling the Falcons had national powerhouse West Liberty come to town. They would get what would be the first of two signature wins in the home opener when they knocked off the eventual MEC regular season and tournament champion Hilltoppers. After a loss at Glenville State NDC held off Concord to improve to 5-1. " We had some big wins at home including the ones against West Liberty and Fairmont, "Coach Mark Richmond explained in his post game press conference at the MEC Tournament. NDC was upset by NAIA Lourdes University in the following contest. They would then win three straight to improve to 8-2 and 5-1 in the MEC which tied the best start in program history. A trip down to Florida over spring break saw NDC drop a pair of tight games. One to Florida Tech (89-82 in overtime) and another to Lynn University (68-63.) After a win over Frostburg State on January 5th NDC dropped three straight games to what would end up being the teams that finished (second) West Virginia State, third (Charleston) and fourth (Fairmont) in the MEC Standings. Two of which became NCAA Tournament teams (Fairmont and West Liberty.) As well as another who made it to the MEC Championship Game. After a win against Wheeling that completed the season sweep of the Cardinals the Falcons would have a tough road trip with losses to Alderson Broaddus (seventh MEC) and Concord (sixth) in the MEC. Just when you thought the Falcons were dead and buried they came back late to defeat Glenville State in double overtime which fueled a five game win streak that included another signature win, this time over #10 Fairmont State on February 9th. The regular season ended with four straight losses though as they fell to the trio of Charleston, West Liberty and West Virginia State before a loss to Alderson Broaddus to end the regular season. NDC would be matched up with Fairmont State in the 4 vs 5 matchup in the MEC Tournament and would fall 67-65 in that one.
Here was the assessment of the season from Richmond:
" For the most part I was pleased with our season, "Richmond mentioned. "It didn't end the way we wanted but lets be honest it does not end the way most teams want. Not many teams are going to finish the season with a win or a championship. We played some tough teams late and had some bumps and bruises at the wrong time. I thought we took a step forward as a program though, having a winning season was definitely a positive. We left a few wins out there that we could have had. The best part about our team is that nobodies career is over. Now that they have been through a full conference season that should do nothing but help them in the long run."
redshirt freshman John Godinez gave his thoughts as a whole:
"This year as a team we had a lot of ups and downs, "Godinez stated. "We started off well but did not end the way that we wanted to. I feel like this team has so much potential and can do big things! For me personally it was also a lot of ups and downs. I fought through a lot of downs and just kept going. I had games where I played really well and I had games where I wasn't myself but its part of my journey and I learned a lot. The hard times made me tougher and made me a better player as well as person. I'm proud of the whole team, we all worked hard and it wasn't the season we wanted but it was a memorable season. We have a ton of talent on the team and the potential that we have to be great is what excites me the most about next year."
Leading scorer: Jaedon Willis (20.5 points per game)
Leading rebounder: Mike Sampson (8.1 rebounds per night)
Assist leader: Willis (2.96 per contest)
Steals leader: Sampson (1.97 per game)
Field Goal Percentage: Sampson (57.7 percent)
3-point percentage: Godinez (45.5 percent not enough attempts to be amongst conference leaders, Barker (39.6 percent also not enough attempts), Willis (38 percent)
Free throw percentage: Willis (83.6 percent)
Minutes played: Sampson (34 per game.)
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