The Notre Dame College Falcons welcome the Shepherd Rams to South Euclid on Thursday night. The game tips off at 7:30 PM- and- you can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com with Andrew Luftglass on the call.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about the task at hand:
"McKnight and Lang are two of the best guards in the league- and- Burgess is one of the best big men in the league. They have others that are good players as well. They are a really good team." Koenig said.
Assistant Coach John Wakelin agreed:
" Lang and McKnight are really good players- and- Burgess is one of the best big men in the league. McKnight is looking to attack the rim- while Lang can shoot from anywhere. He (Lang) can get his shot off in many different ways. We will need to trap both guys to get the ball out of there hands. Burgess is really skilled down low. It will have to be a group effort to stop him- and- multiple guys will defend him." Waklein added.
Bruce Hodges talked about some keys to the game:
" We have to come out ready to play. We can not come into the game thinking it's a easy win. We must play our game- and- win the 50-50 balls."
On the defensive approach against Shepherd:
" We will mix up the defenses. We will play some man and some zone. We will watch the film- and- see what worked/didn't work against Shepherd in the first meeting." Wakelin said.
NDC (14-6 10-4 MEC) was a 75-69 winner over Charleston last time out. Will Vorhees led the way with 32 points and 12 rebounds- Larenz Thurman added 17- and- Bruce Hodges added eight points- five rebounds- and- five assists. The Falcons shot 49 percent from the field- 29 percent from the 3-point line- and- 83 percent (19-23) from the free throw line in the victory.
In the first meeting between the two schools back on January 17th the Falcons were a 87-78 winner on the road. Vorhees led the way with 38 points and 14 rebounds- Thurman added 23- and- Isaiah Sanders netted 11. NDC shot 53 percent from the field- and- 42 percent from the 3-point line. As a team the Falcons average a league sixth best 86.3 points per game- while they allowed a league third best 79 per contest.
Vorhees puts up 25.9 points per night- and- averages a team leading 11 rebounds per contest. The redshirt senior from Lima,OH needs 62 points to pass former Falcons Guard Tyree Gaiter for the most points in program history. Thurman puts up 18.9 points per game- and- averages more than four assists per contest. Sanders returned from injury in the last contest- and- scores 11.8 points per game. Halil Parks rounds out the double digit scorers averaging 11 points per night.
Koenig talked about what needs to be done to handle success- which the Falcons have struggled with thus far:
" We will rely on our leadership. We will rely on our focus and approach." Koenig said.
Shepherd (10-10 6-8 MEC) comes in losers of four straight. The Rams were upset 78-72 by Wheeling Jesuit on Saturday. Tommy Lang had 17- Jon Preston- and- Winston Burgess each tallied 16. Jarrell Jones netted 11- and- Derek McKnight chipped in 10.
In the first meeting with the Falcons at home Shepherd was a 87-78 loser. Preston paced the Rams with 17- Lang added 16- McKnight chipped in 13- and- Smith scored 10. In that loss Shepherd shot 38 percent from the field- 25 percent from the 3-point line (8-32-) and- shot at a 58 percent clip (14-24) from the free throw line. The Rams score a league 10th best 78.7 points per game as a team- while they allow a league second best 77.9 per contest. The Rams are out-rebounding the opponents by 1.4 rebounds per contest (37.4-36.0.)
Lang is the top scorer for the Rams at 18.7 points per game- while Burgess puts up 16.4 points- and- seven rebounds per night. McKnight is netting 16.2 per game- and- Preston averages 10 points per game.
Koenig talked about the impact of Lang/McKnight:
" Those guys are really good players. When Shepherd wins they usually play really well. When they don't win they don't play as well. That is definitely the focus for our team at the defensive end in this game."
On the others/quality of Shepherd's team Koenig said.
" Shepherd is a damn good team. I do not expect a letdown. We better not have one- because they are definitely good enough to beat us. They beat Shippensburg earlier in the season who is one of the better teams in our region. Burgess is playing really well lately- and- we have already talked about McKnight and Lang."
On the balance the team is looking for:
" We are not good enough to pick and choose. We just want to take good quality shots. If it means Will scores 60- and- takes 30 shots- or if we win 70-69- and- Will scores 10 as well as six other guys having 10 we could care less."
On the mentality against the Shepherd defense Koenig said:
" We are prepared for anything this time of year. We have seen just about everything with the exception of a junk defense. We have not seen any triangle and two or box in one- but we have seen everything else.We may have to make more adjustments."
On the task of sweeping Shepherd for the first time in program history:
" It is a tall task. Our guys will be ready to play- and- we look forward to challenge." Koenig said.
Other MEC Games Thursday:
West Virginia State @Glenville State
Fairmont State @Urbana
Wheeling Jesuit @ Concord
West Liberty @ Virginia Wise
Charleston @ West Virginia Wesleyan
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 13-1 (17-2)
Fairmont State 12-2 (15-5)
NDC 10-4 (14-6)
Concord 9-5 (14-6)
Charleston 8-6 (13-7)
West Virginia State 8-6 (11-9)
Shepherd 6-8 (10-10)
West Virginia Wesleyan 6-8 (9-11)
Virginia Wise 4-10 (7-13)
Glenville State 3-11 (8-12)
Wheeling Jesuit 2-12 (3-17)
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