Coming into Saturday's non conference game between the Gannon Golden Knights and Notre Dame College Falcons all the talk was about what a great rebounding and defensive team Gannon was. The team on the other side of the floor was the team that forced 23 turnovers and helped lift the Falcons to a 73-59 win at Murphy Gym.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about both teams on defense:
" Gannon is a really good defensive team. That is the best defensive team that we have played this season except for CSU and Wright State who are both Division 1 schools."
" We did a great job defensively. Our defense kept us in the game in the first half. The fact that we went 1-19 from the 3-point line and were up eight at the half is unheard of. It proves the maturity of this team since the beginning of the season though. These guys have really matured as the outcome of this one may have been different at the beginning of this year."
NDC (8-3 4-2 MEC) was led by a monster day from Will Vorhees. The redshirt senior from Lima,OH had 32 points- 11 rebounds- four assists- and- three blocks to pace the Falcons.
Koenig talked about the work that was put in this week:
" These guys worked there tails off this week. The fact that we were 39-39 on the boards against this team was great. Obviously led by Angelo (Cugini) and Will we boarded with a team that has out-rebounded some opponents this season by 20 plus rebounds in a game."
Isaiah Sanders scored 11 points and also had three steals- while Cugini added 10 points and eight rebounds in the win. Larenz Thurman led the Falcons with eight assists to go along with his nine points.
Koenig commented on the effort handling the ball for 35 minutes for Thurman:
"Larenz had five turnovers today but I thought he handled the ball well for 35 minutes. They had really good ball pressure against him. It was not Larenz's best shooting night tonight but he was still pretty good today."
Koenig also talked about the minutes from Hamish Warden tonight:
" Hamish is the guy that does the stuff that does not show up on the stat sheet. He did a really good job today of keeping the rebounders from Gannon off the glass."
NDC shot 38 percent as a team- 17 percent (5-29) from the 3-point line-and- 80 percent (20-25) from the free throw line. The Falcons had 13 assists and 14 turnovers in the contest.
Gannon (3-6 1-2 PSAC) was led by Frank Webb Jr.with 19 points- while Kofi Mills added seven. Daryl Porter and DeAnte Cisero led the Golden Knights with seven rebounds each. The Golden Knights shot 44 percent as a team- 33 percent (5-15) from the 3-point line- and- 40 percent (8-20) at the free throw line. Each team had 39 rebounds. The Golden Knights had eight assists and 23 turnovers in the contest.
The game started out at Gannon's pace and would be tied at 10 after a Cugini layup at the 10:29 mark of the opening half. NDC would lead 19-13 after a Halil Parks 3-pointer at the 7:28 mark of the half. The Golden Knights would counter with a 7-1 run to tie the game at 20 after Cyril Ogbugua layup with just over five minutes to go in the half. NDC would then go on a 10-0 run as Thurman would make two free throws and Vorhees would have the other eight points as they led 30-20. After a four point run by Gannon Vorhees would hit a layup to send the Falcons into the locker room with a 32-24 advantage.
The Falcons were led by Vorhees with 12 points and six rebounds in the opening half- while Parks added six. The Falcons shot 31 percent in the first 20 minutes. They shot 5 percent (1-19) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (9-12) at the free throw line. Each team had 24 rebounds. The Falcons had six assists and seven turnovers in the first half.
Gannon shot 37 percent from the floor in the first half. They shot 14 percent (1-7) from the 3-point line in the opening half- while they struggled at the free throw line shooting 30 percent (3-10.) The Golden Knights had four assists and 13 turnovers in the half.
After a quick Gannon basket to start the second half NDC got a Thurman 3-pointer and a put back dunk by Sanders to stretch the lead to 11 (37-26.) The Falcons would stretch the lead to 18 (52-34) after a Bruce Hodges 3-pointer at the 14:04 mark. The Falcons would hold off a scrappy Gannon team that would not get any closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Sanders talked about what a great team win it was:
" It was a great team win from everyone. The defensive effort was great in this game. We knew they would be physical so we had to get boards. The team gave me that energy to make those great plays (like the putback dunk.) Everyone did amazing."
Cugini agreed with Sanders:
" It was a great team win. Everyone played great. We had a couple of great practices leading up to the game and we played how we practiced."
Cugini spoke about the minutes from Dan Lott and Thurman today:
" Dan came in and played great minutes. Renz was huge with advancing the ball and passing it to open guys. Even when he isn't scoring he makes a huge impact and that's what great players do.All around it was a great team win."
Bruce Hodges talked about the effort Saturday:
" I felt we came out and did what we had to do. We played our game- it was a tough battle and we didn't back down from the challenge at all! It was a great team win and we got a great contribution from little Dan (Lott) in this one.!
Koenig agreed:
" We figured out a way to win against a good team. It was a group effort- I was very pleased with the effort today."
" I felt we did what we had to do.We played our game, it was a tough battle and we didn't not back down from the challenge at all. Great team win and a great contribution from little Dan (Lott).
NDC will now break for the holidays and will be back in action on 1/5 when they head to Lake Erie to take on the Storm.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
Concord 70 West Virginia Wesleyan 58
MEC Standings:
Fairmont State 6-0 (8-3)
Concord 5-1 (9-2)
West Liberty 5-1 (7-2)
NDC 4-2 (8-3)
Charleston 3-3 (7-3)
Shepherd 3-3 (6-3)
Virginia Wise 3-3 (5-5)
Glenville State 2-4 (6-4)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-4 (4-6)
West Virginia State 2-4 (3-6)
Urbana 1-5 (2-7)
Wheeling Jesuit 0-6 (0-10)
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