You knew going into Wednesday night's game between the Notre Dame College Falcons and the Fairmont State Fighting Falcons it was going to be tough for NDC to get the win on the road. The NDC Falcons were 0-9 at Joe Retton Arena going into this one. They got to within nine points early in the second half but could not get over the hump in a 88-69 loss on Wednesday night. With the loss NDC falls to 14-9 and 10-7 in the MEC. Fairmont improved to 18-6 and 13-4 in the MEC after the win.
"Had a couple rough stretches tonight, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond mentioned. NDC was led by a trio of players in double figures. Jaedon Willis paced the NDC Falcons with 21 points, DeAirius Barker added 14 points and picked up a career high five steals, while Tyland Crawford netted 13.
Fairmont State was led by Isaiah Sanders with 25 points, Fonz Hale added 18, George Mangas tallied 12, and Briggs Parris added 11.
NDC got a bucket from Crawford to start the scoring but Sanders would answer with a triple. After Mangas and Barker traded baskets NDC went up 6-5 on a Willis jumper with 16:25 in the opening half. After a Fairmont free throw NDC got buckets from Obinna Ugwuakazi on a put back on the offensive glass and Willis to put them up four (10-6.) They would lead 10-8 at the first media timeout of the opening frame after Dobbs scored for Fairmont. That would be the start of a 17-2 run by Fairmont that gave them a 15 point lead (27-12) as Hale hit back to back 3-pointer's. The last one being at the 10:58 mark of the opening stanza. Down by 17 (36-19) NDC went on a 6-0 run as Barker scored on an old fashioned three-point play and Crawford knocked down a triple at the 6:55 mark of the half. Powered by Hale the Fighting Falcons stretched the lead to 21 (48-27) at the 2:27 mark before Talbert hit a 3-pointer for NDC. Barker went on a five point run of his own in the second half and NDC was down 52-37 after the first 20 minutes of action.
Barker had 10 to lead NDC in the opening half, Willis added nine, and Crawford tallied seven. They shot 47 percent in the first half, 29 percent (4-14) from the 3-point line, and made the only free throw they attempted.
Fairmont was paced by Hale with 18 in the first half, Sanders added 16, and Mangas tallied eight. Fairmont shot 64 percent from the field, 67 percent (6-9) from the 3-point line, and 82 percent (14-17) at the free throw line in the first stanza.
NDC came out energized in the second half as a dunk and layup by Ugwuakazi pulled them to within 11 (52-41.) The lead for Fairmont was 13 (56-43) as a pair of technical fouls on Fairmont put Willis on the line and he knocked down all four free throws. NDC was within nine (56-47) at the 16:02 mark. That is as close as NDC would get the rest of the way. Fairmont would go on a 16-2 run and lead by 23 (72-49) on a David Jolinder hoop. Down 26 (83-57) at the 5:09 mark NDC would not quit. They would go on a 12-0 run capped by a Willis four-point play to trim the lead to 18 (83-65.) The Fighting Falcons would close it out down the stretch and complete the first season sweep of NDC since the 2017-18 season.
"I thought it was a really good win over a really good team, "Fairmont State head coach Tim Koenig said. Our defense and rebounding really picked up in the second half. Our crowd was incredible as well."
Fairmont shot 59 percent as a team, 50 percent (10-20) from the 3-point line, and 80 percent (20-25) from the free throw line. They had 14 assists and 19 turnovers in the contest. Fairmont won the rebounding battle 36-28.
NDC shot 40 percent from the field, 23 percent (5-22) from the 3-point line, and 83 percent (10-12) from the free throw line. They had 10 assists and 13 turnovers in the contest.
Sanders was 7-15 from the field, 3-9 from the 3-point line, and 8-10 at the free throw line to score 25 points, he also grabbed six rebounds, and had a pair of steals.
"Was a good game for the Fighting Falcons, "Sanders mentioned. "We stayed together as a team. I'm happy we were able to get the win against a really talented team,"
Hale knocked down four of five 3-pointer's as he scored all 18 of his points in the opening 20 minutes. Mangas was 6-7 from the field to tally 12 points, while Parris was 2-3 from the 3-point line and 5-5 at the free throw line to round out the double digit scorers with 11.
NDC saw Willis go 6-13 from the field, 2-4 from the 3-point line and 7-7 at the free throw line to score 21 points. Barker was 6-13 from the field, 1-3 from the 3-point line as as he tallied 14 to go with a career high five steals. Crawford was 6-13 from the field and 1-4 from the 3-point line to get to his 13 point night.
Richmond gave his thoughts:
"We had one rough stretch in the first half and then another in the second half once we got back into the game. Playing from behind is obviously not easy but I thought we panicked a little bit in those situations and shot it quicker than we needed to to try to get back into the game."
NDC will be back at home Saturday when they celebrate senior day when they host Frostburg State. Tip time at Murphy Gym is set for 4 PM.
MEC Scores
West Liberty 82 Glenville State 70
Concord 101 Wheeling 98
Charleston 84 West Virginia Wesleyan 53
Frostburg State 87 Alderson Broaddus 72
Davis & Elkins 91 West Virginia State 82
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 15-2 (20-3)
Fairmont State 13-4 (18-5)
Charleston 13-4 (16-7)
West Virginia State 10-7 (16-7)
NDC 10-7 (14-9)
Glenville State 9-8 (13-10)
Concord 9-8 (12-10)
Davis& Elkins 8-9 (14-9)
Alderson Broaddus 6-11 (8-14)
Frostburg State 4-13 (8-15)
Wheeling 3-14 (5-18)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-15 (2-20)
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