The Notre Dame College Falcons trailed 44-37 at halftime on Saturday, but they held the nation's leading scorer from last season to 20 points and forced him to turn the ball over nine times in a 80-69 Falcons win at the Carter Center. With the win NDC improved to 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in the MEC. With the defeat Concord fell to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the MEC.
Will Vorhees paced the Falcons with his fourth consecutive double-double. Vorhees scored 28 points and grabbed a team leading 10 rebounds. Larenz Thurman scored 21 points- Isaiah Sanders had 15- and-Halil Parks added 11. The Falcons shot 44 percent from the field and shot 33 percent (9-27) from the 3-point line. NDC was a solid 90 percent (17-19) at the free throw line. Each team had 38 rebounds. NDC had eight assists and 12 turnovers in the contest.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about the win:
"It was a hell of a team win. Big win on the road. It was a great team win. I am so proud of this team after tonight. These guys have been working hard to put in the time and effort. They are starting to get the results as well"
On the game that Thurman played today:
"Larenz was the best player on the floor tonight.He is our floor general. He stepped up big tonight, especially on the defensive end. Obviously he made shots as well but he did a great job on Tommy Bolte tonight"
On the defensive effort from the bench tonight:
"The bench was really good in the second half, especially Mo (Carroll) and Bruce (Hodges.) Hodges did a good job on Jair Rodgers after he made six 3-pointer's in the first half. I could not be more proud of the team tonight." Credit to Bruce as he was ready when his number was called. He did not play in the first half and was up to the challenge in the second half."
Concord was led by 23 points from Jair Rodgers- Bolte had 20- and- Trey Brisco added 11. The Mountain Lions shot 50 percent from the floor- and- 60 percent (12-20) from the 3-point line in the first half. In the second half Concord shot 21 percent (6-29) from the field and- just 1-12 from the 3-point line. The Mountain Lions shot 36 percent in the game and 41 percent (13-32) from the 3-point line. They shot 78 percent (14-18) from the free throw line. Concord had 17 assists and 17 turnovers as a team.
The game began with Concord scoring the games first five points, before the Falcons ran off a 11-0 run to take a 11-5 lead. NDC would lead it 16-10 at the first media timeout. The Mountain Lions would then take a 27-20 lead after going on a 17-4 run just over halfway thru the opening stanza. NDC would cut the lead to two (33-31) at the 4:53 mark of the opening half. The Mountain Lions would finish the opening half with a seven point lead (44-37.) Rodgers led the Mountain Lions with 18 points in the first half- while Bolte had 13.
NDC was led by 13 points from Vorhees- while Thurman added 10. The Falcons were out rebounded by five in the first stanza but were a perfect six of six at the free throw line.
NDC really turned it up on the defensive end in the second half. After trailing by five (49-44) at the first media of second half they would go on a 15-6 run to retake the lead with 9:56 to go. That would be a lead that would not be relinquished the rest of the way and led to the first conference win of the season.
Hodges spoke about his defensive mentality:
"The kid Rodgers scored 18 points in the first half by making six 3-pointer's. I take pride in defense and my goal was not to let him have an open shot in the second half. We did a very good job on him in the second half. My dad used to always tell me I was like the energizer bunny and defense is something I have always taken pride in.
On his relationship with Thurman:
"Larenz and I played together in prep school. We have always fed off each other and known where the other guy is. We have great chemistry."
Vorhees on what changed in the second half and foul shooting:
"We did not do a good job in the first half of identifying a shooter like Rodgers but we corrected that in the second half. We got some big minutes from Mo (Carroll.. I thought we did a good job on Bolte as well." As for the free throw shooting we know that the way we have been shooting free throws this season before tonight was unacceptable. Anyone who knows me knows that I have struggled with free throw shooting. Two years ago we got knocked out of the conference tournament in Charleston because I could not make two free throws at the end of the game. I shot a lot of free throws in my red shirt season last year. We shot free throws well tonight and this is what we expect as a team."
Thurman on being back, the chemistry with Hodges, and the minutes Sanders gave tonight:
" It is good to be back. Bruce and I as he mentioned have been teammates since prep school. He has always been my brother on the court and we just feed off each other. Isaiah gave us some really good minutes tonight. He is really an unbelievable talent. One of the best athletes I have ever seen. Whenever he gets out on a fast break he can always electrify the crowd with a dunk."
On playing with Vorhees:
"Will is a great player. One of the best players in the country. He makes my job so much easier.He is so unselfish, You always know he is going to make the pass to the open man"
NDC will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Virginia Wise. Tip time set for 7:30 PM. As always you can catch the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores:
West Liberty 158 Glenville State 106
West Virginia State 88 Shepherd 80
Fairmont State 99 Charleston 96 (2 OT)
Virginia Wise 93 Urbana 70
West Virginia Wesleyan 78 Wheeling Jesuit 60
MEC Standings:
NDC 1-0 (3-1)
Virginia Wise 1-0 (3-1)
West Liberty 1-0 (3-1)
West Virginia Wesleyan 1-0 (3-1)
West Virginia State 1-0 (2-1)
Fairmont State 1-0 (3-2)
Charleston 0-1 (3-1)
Glenville State 0-1 (3-1)
Shepherd 0-1 (3-1)
Concord 0-1 (2-2)
Urbana 0-1 (0-2)
Wheeling Jesuit 0-1 (0-3)
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