It was a tale of two halves for the Notre Dame College Falcons (6-7 2-6 MEC( as they scored just 25 points in the first half and trailed by 34 at the break. The Falcons scored 54 points in the second stanza in the 98-79 loss to the University of Charleston Golden Eagles (10-2 6-1 MEC) at the H. Bernard Werhle Arena.
""We got off to a bad start. Dug ourselves a big hole early against a good team," NDC head coach Mark Richmond explained.
UC scored the first six points of the contest before freshman Cameron Johnson got NDC on the board on a layup after a steal by senior Davin Zeigler. After Dwaine Jones hit a 3-pointer for the Golden Eagles NDC junior Gbolahan Adio made a triple of his own. It was one of just two triples the Falcons would make in the opening 20 minutes. Eddie Colbert and Tyler Eberhart hit triples for UC before NDC got a layup by redshirt sophomore Devin Haid that cut the UC lead to 15-7 at the 14:15 mark of the first half. After Shunta Wilson hit a 3-ball for the Golden Eagles Johnson did the same for NDC to cut the lead to 11 (23-12) with 12:26 to go in the half. UC went on a 13-0 run to stretch the lead to 24 (36-12) with 9:22 until halftime. The lead grew to 30 (50-20) after former Falcon Obinna Ugwuakazi dunked the ball. At halftime it was 59-24 in favor of the home team.
In the opening half UC shot 70.6 percent from the field, 64.3 percent (9-14) from the 3-point line and 50 percent (2-4) from the free throw line. Eberhart led UC with 13 in the opening 20 minutes, Colbert had 12 and Jones added 10. UC led the rebounding battle 19-9 at the half. They had 19 assists and five turnovers in the opening stanza.
On the other side for the Falcons they were led by five points each from Harris and Johnson in the first half. The Falcons shot 36 percent from the floor, 20 percent (2-10) from the 3-point line and a perfect 5-5 at the free throw line. They had four assists and 11 turnovers in the half.
UC scored the first seven points of the second half but NDC showed some fight going on a 13-0 run in a 2:51 span. An old fashioned three-point play closed the run before CJ Meredith scored for UC. A layup by Colbert stretched the lead for UC to 35 (80-45) at the 10:36 mark. The Falcons went on a 9-0 spurt as Harris scored five points during the run. NDC would finish the game on a 8-1 run. NDC would score 54 points in the second half as they shot 52.8 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from the 3-point line (6-14) and 76.9 percent (10-13) at the free throw line in the second stanza. As a whole NDC was led by Harris who had 17 points, Haid who had 17 points to go along with four steals and Adio who tallied nine, In the contest NDC shot 45.9 percent from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) from the 3-point line, and 83.3 percent (15-18) from the free throw line. The Falcons had 11 assists and 12 turnovers in the contest.
UC had six players score in double figures. Colbert led the way with 19, Eberhart had 17 to go with seven rebounds, Ugwuakazi chipped in 15 to go with six boards, Meredith had 11, and Turner netted 10. As a team UC shot 65.5 percent from the floor, 45.8 percent (11-24) from the 3-point line and 64.7 percent (11-17) from the free throw line. UC dominated the glass 41-19. They had 25 assists and 16 turnovers in the contest.
NDC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Frostburg State. Tip time is slated for 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores:
West Virginia State 104 Salem 87
Frostburg State 104 Wheeling 99
Glenville State 93 West Virginia Wesleyan 54
West Liberty 101 Fairmont State 84
Concord 85 Davis & Elkins 73
MEC Standings:
Charleston 6-1 (10-2)
West Liberty 6-1 (11-3)
Concord 5-2 (9-2)
Davis & Elkins 5-2 (9-5)
West Virginia State 4-3 (8-5)
Glenville State 4-3 (8-6)
Fairmont State 4-4 (10-4)
Wheeling 2-5 (5-8)
NDC 2-6 (6-7)
Frostburg State 2-6 (2-12)
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-7 (1-13)
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