Down by eight with less than four minutes to go in regulation the Notre Dame College Falcons came storming back to force overtime- and- would ultimately walk out of the McDonnell Center with a 87-77 win Thursday night. The victory was the first MEC win for the Falcons- and- also the first road win of the season for NDC.
NDC (2-7 1-4 MEC) had five players in double figures. Drew Scarberry paced the Falcons with a season high 21 points- while Levi Frankland and Jordan Burton each tallied 17.Burton also had four steals. DeAnthony Owens netted 13- and- Larenz Thurman chipped in 12 for NDC. Thurman also grabbed seven rebounds- and- dished out four assists. Bruce Hodges led the Falcons with eight rebounds on the night.
Davis & Elkins (4-6 2-3 MEC) was paced by Myles Monroe who scored a game high 29 points- while Donte Doleman netted 17- and- Erkham Kiris tallied 11.
The game started with NDC putting the first five points on the scoreboard. As Owens would knock down a jumper- followed by a Scarberry 3-pointer. D&E would battle back and take a 11-10 lead after a Kiris basket at the 14:28 mark of the first half. Monroe would make it a 13-10 lead after a basket of his own. Then Burton would make his impact right away for NDC. Burton would score on a pair of jumpers to put the Falcons up 14-13. The game would be tied at 21 at the 9:27 mark of the opening stanza after a Frankland bucket. The Senators would go on a 10-2 run to go back up by eight with under six minutes left in the opening half. It would be a seven point (36-29) deficit for the Falcons at the half.
Hodges talked about how big the minutes were from Burton in the opening half:
" JB gave us life and hope today. "Hodges said.
Coach Mark Richmond also talked about the minutes by the freshman:
" Jordan Burton was a spark off the bench. I thought he brought energy when he came into the game. He was able to get into the paint and score which opened up some things for us on the outside. "Richmond mentioned.
NDC shot 39 percent in the opening half- 25 percent (3-12) from the 3-point line- and- 50 percent (2-4) at the free throw line. The Falcons had seven assists and six turnovers in the opening half. Burton led them in scoring in the first 20 minutes with 11- while both Scarberry and Frankland added five.
Owens talked about how big it was for the team to get thru the first half with both he and Thurman in foul trouble:
" We battled thru adversity this game with two of our starters pretty much sitting out the entire first half. We fought hard to even stay in the game."
The Senators were led by Monroe with 11 in the opening half- while Elliot White had eight. The Senators shot 52 percent in the first half- 27 percent (3-11) from the 3-point line- and- 63 percent (5-8) at the free throw line. D&E led the rebounding battle 19-16 in the first stanza.
D&E would stretch the lead to 12 early in the second stanza. At the 14:01 mark of the contest they would have the largest lead of the game at 13. NDC would then see Scarberry go on a 7-0 run by himself as he buried a triple and made a couple of layups. NDC would get to within four for the first time (57-53) after a Burton layup at the 8:30 mark. Two other times NDC would get to within four. Up eight with five minutes to go the Senators looked to be in control. The lead was still eight for the Senators at the 3:39 mark after a Doleman 3-pointer. The Senators would not score for the rest of regulation. Owens hit a pair of free throws- and- a bucket by Frankland cut it to 69-65 at the 2:03 mark. A Burton layup would cut the lead to two with 1:27 in regulation. Owens then hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 69 with 38 seconds to go. He would then block a shot at the other end to give the Falcons one last chance at the end of regulation. A Scarberry 3-ball was off the mark to end regulation.
Owens was quick to deflect the defensive credit to his teammates and talked about the free throws at the end of regulation:
" It wouldn't have beeni fair to my teammates for me to miss and honestly I wasn't ready to let all our hard work go to waste. As for the block, Bruce and Renz really deserve the credit for it. They are the ones who forced #4 (Doleman) into a tough shot. All I had to do was finish the play for them. Before the game I told them I had their back and i'm grateful I was able to prove it in a pivotal moment."
The overtime period was all NDC. Frankland hit a 3-pointer to open the OT and it was a lead the Falcons would not relinquish. After a Owens layup the lead was five. The Senators got to within four (75-71) with 2:57 in OT but that is as close as they would get. NDC would make free throws down the stretch to close this one out.
Richmond talked about the way they closed the game:
" Our defense was really good down the stretch. I thought we played together as a unit defensively down the stretch which was the difference.We're definitely looking to gain momentum going into the break. I think now that we finally earned a win it will be positive for us. If we continue to guard it will give us a chance in every game even if we don't make shots like we did in the first half tonight."
NDC shot 45 percent in the contest- 29 percent (7-24) from the 3-point line- and- 71 percent (22-31) from the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 42-39. They had 13 assists- and- 10 turnovers.
D&E shot 46 percent from the field- 27 percent (6-22) from the 3-point line- and- 52 percent (11-21) at the free throw line. The Senators had 14 assists- and- 13 turnovers.
Owens talked about the night Burton had:
" Honestly JB came in and gave us arguably the best minutes tonight."
Scarberry talked about things starting to click for the Falcons:
" Things are finally starting to click for us as a whole. We know that we are going to be in dog fights every night. We have to bring the fight the whole 40 minutes and extra as was needed tonight. Everyone played a role tonight and everyone did a great job. Great team win!
Hodges agreed:
" It was a great team win! We fought and stayed together! We actually earned it today. Hopefully this wakes us up and we get things rolling."
Owens talked about the growth of the team:
" This proves we are a well rounded team and on any given night anybody can be that spark that we need."
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they host West Virginia Wesleyan at Murphy Gym. Tip time for the MEC tilt is at 4 PM.
Other MEC Games:
Fairmont State 91 Concord 67 (Tuesday)
Wednesday:
West Virginia State 97 Wheeling 92
Charleston 83 West Liberty 73
West Virginia Wesleyan 73 Urbana 65
Glenville State 119 Frostburg State 89
MEC Standings:
Fairmont State 4-1 (7-1)
Glenville State 4-1 (7-2)
Charleston 3-2 (7-2)
West Virginia State 3-2 (6-2)
West Liberty 3-2 (6-3)
West Virginia Wesleyan 3-2 (3-7)
Concord 2-3 (4-6)
Davis & Elkins 2-3 (4-6)
Frostburg State 1-4 (2-7)
NDC 1-4 (2-7)
Urbana 1-4 (2-7)
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