The Notre Dame College Falcons came out red hot on Saturday- led by as many as 21 points, had a 50-31 halftime lead- but would ultimately fall 101-95 to West Virginia Wesleyan College in overtime. It was the second straight overtime game for NDC.
Coach Mark Richmond talked about the game afterwards:
" I knew going into the overtime that we were in for a battle. They had all the momentum. For whatever reason we lost all discpline especially late in our defensive principles. Obviously 70 points in a half and overtime is unacceptable. Like I said I don't know what it was but we lost all principles- our defense just collapsed. Every time they got the ball into the post they either got a layup or a foul and they took advantage of us being undersized on the inside."
Wesleyan (4-7 4-2 MEC) was paced by Dusan Vicentic who had 27 points and nine rebounds. Ross Young added 24 points and seven boards- while going 10-10 at the free throw line. Clay Todd added 15- Luka Petrovic scored 13- and- Daylin Lee chipped in 11.
NDC (2-8 1-5 MEC) was paced by DeAnthony Owens who scored 27 points- and- grabbed nine rebounds. Drew Scarberry knocked down six 3-pointer's on his way to 24 points- while Levi Frankland scored 21 points- grabbed six rebounds- and- dished out five assists. Jordan Burton had eight points and eight assists for NDC.
The game would start off very close as NDC would lead 16-14 at the 12:55 mark of the first half. NDC would then go on a 20-2 run capped by a Jacob Sala layup at the 7:11 mark of the opening half that gave them a 36-16 advantage. Frankland would hit another 3-pointer at the 6:39 mark and the Falcons would have the largest lead of the game at 21 (39-18.) The Falcons would again lead by 21 at the 1:28 mark and would take a 50-31 lead into the locker room.
NDC was led by three players in double figures in the opening half. Frankland was a perfect six of six from the field- including five for five from the 3-point line on his way to 17 points. Scarberry made four 3-pointer's of his own to account for his 12 points- while Owens added 10 and five rebounds in the opening stanza. NDC shot 62 percent from the field- 63 percent (10-16) from the 3-point line- and- made all four free throws in the opening half. They led the rebounding battle 21-15 as well. The Falcons had 12 assists- and- six turnovers as a team in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bobcats shot 35 percent from the field- 19 percent (3-16) from the 3-point line- and- 67 percent (2-3) at the free throw line in the opening half. They had four assists and four turnovers in the half.
NDC would get a Owens layup to open the second half, as they would again lead by 21 (52-31.) Wesleyan would then go on a 13-4 run to make the score 56-44 after a Petrovic jumper. Scarberry would then hit a jumper- and- knock down his fifth 3-pointer of the game to stretch the lead back to 17 (61-44) at the 15:27 mark. The lead would be trimmed to single digits (66-57) after Young converted a three point play at the 11:24 mark. NDC was still up 12 (72-60) at the 8:05 mark. WVWC would score the next five before a pair of Burton free throws made it 74-65. Up nine at the 5:31 mark the Falcons would lose the lead after a 10-0 run by the Bobcats after Young had another three point play at the 2:17 mark. Scarberry would put NDC back on top with his sixth 3-ball of the game at the 1:38 mark. Once again Young would answer with a three point play at the 1:33 mark of regulation. After a pair of free throws by Vicentic it was a three point lead. NDC would then get a deep 3-pointer by Owens at the 10.9 mark to knot the game at 84. The game would go to overtime after the Bobcats could not get a shot off at the end of regulation.
Vicentic would give the Bobcats the lead to start overtime. A big 3-pointer by Vicentic would see the Bobcats go up 93-88 at the 2:47 mark. Owens would then knock down a 3-ball to get NDC within two but Wesleyan would score the next five points. Ultimately the Bobcats would walk out of Murphy Gym with a 101-95 win.
NDC shot 47 percent from the field in the contest- 41 percent (14-34) from the 3-point line- and- 77 percent (13-17) at the free throw line. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 41-35. They had 20 assists- and- 12 turnovers as a team.
Wesleyan shot 47 percent from the field- 38 percent (12-32) from the 3-point line- and- shot at a 89 percent clip (23-26) at the free throw line. The Bobcats had 17 assists- and- 10 turnovers as a team.
Richmond talked about the team having a little carry over from Thursday's win in the first half:
" We were trying to talk abut protecting the home court this week. We shared the ball and defended pretty well in the first half."
Richmond talked about the injury to Larenz Thurman and his team's next man up attitude:
" It changed the game a little bit. We can't use that as an excuse though. Next man up is our mentally and somebody has to step up. Burton did not play terribly. He did have eight assists. He is still a freshman and turned the ball over a few times when he over penetrated. He is a smaller guard. You can't use the injury as an excuse. Our motto the whole season has been everybody has to contribute and we have to be clicking on all cylinders."
Richmond talked about the positive of rebounding in the last two games:
"Rebounding has obviously been an emphasis of ours. Rebounding comes down to effort most of the time. The difference in the game today though was that Wesleyan got three or four offensive rebounds late."
NDC will be back in action next Saturday when they take on Mercy College. Tip time is set for 4 PM.
Other MEC Games:
Urbana 83 Davis &Elkins 76
Charleston 95 Wheeling 71
Frostburg State 62 Concord 58
West Liberty 112 West Virginia State 84
Glenville State 125 Fairmont State 111 (Sunday)
MEC Standings:
Glenville State 5-1 (8-2)
Charleston 4-2 (8-2)
Fairmont State 4-2 (7-2)
West Liberty 4-2 (7-3)
West Virginia Wesleyan 4-2 (4-7)
West Virginia State 3-3 (6-3)
Wheeling 3-3 (6-4)
Concord 2-4 (4-7)
Davis & Elkins 2-4 (4-7)
Frostburg State 2-4 (3-7)
Urbana 2-4 (3-7)
NDC 1-5 (2-8)
Comments