It had been over a year since the Notre Dame College Falcons had won a road game before Monday night. The Falcons held off a late surge by Davis &Elkins to pick up the team's first road win of 2021 and the first road win since winning in overtime at the McDonnell Center 12/12/2019.
The 98-91 win was the team's second straight victory to improve it's record to 4-5 (4-5 MEC.) With the loss the Senators fell to (2-6 2-6 MEC) on the season.
Coach Mark Richmond talked about the win afterwards:
"I was proud of our teams togetherness, particularly down the stretch. It feels good to close out a game on the road. We have to continue to learn and keep growing, but we have really good kids who want to learn,"Richmond explained.
Mike Sampson agreed:
" We needed a road win. We came in with a lot of energy, and we stated together as a team. When things got tough we stayed the course,"Sampson mentioned.
Jordan Roland poured in a game high 28 points- grabbed seven rebounds- and- also dished out five assists- and- had three steals in the victory. Sampson continued his string of double-doubles, as he had his third straight (19 points- and- 15 rebounds-) and- his fourth double-double of the year. Jordan Burton continued his hot shooting from the 3-point line, going 3-5 on his way to 18 points to go along with four assists. John Godinez scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with the shot clock winning down that propelled NDC to victory.
The Senators were led by Sam Rolle IV who had 23 points- and- nine assists in the contest. He was one of five D&E players in double figures. Gyasi Powell scored 19- Breland Walton added 18- Fable Burden III had 11- and- Teemu Tumanoff chipped in 10.
The two teams would go back and forth in the early going as the game would be tied at 5, before NDC got a pair of Colby Dillenbeck free throws and a jumper by Burton. NDC would take a seven point lead (24-17) after a Coye Campbell 3-pointer at the 10:32 mark of the opening half. The Falcons were up three (29-26) after a Kyle Leslie 3-pointer, but then would go on a 10-0 run capped by a Mohamed Alkadi layup that gave them a 13 point lead (39-26) at the 4:55 mark of the opening stanza. After a Burton 3-pointer with 1:55 to go in the half NDC had it's largest lead at 14 (44-30,) but the Senators would finish the half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 44-37 heading into the locker room.
The Falcons shot 49 percent in the opening half- 45 percent (5-11) from the 3-point line- and- 70 percent (7-10) at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes. NDC was also +10 in second chance points (12-2,) and +11 (28-17) on the glass in the first half. Roland led NDC with 15 in the opening stanza- Elijah Barnett added seven- and- Sampson had six to go along with seven rebounds.
D&E was led by Rolle with 13- and- Walton with nine in the opening half. They shot 43 percent from the field- 40 percent (6-15) from the 3-point line- and- 63 percent (5-8) from the free throw line.
Sampson talked rebounding:
" We knew we needed to own the glass ,and attack them. Once we started to attack, the game began to open up for us."
NDC would be up nine early in the second half, but a 9-0 run tied the game at 56 at the 15:05 mark. The two teams would trade the lead a few times before Burton knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Falcons up 66-63 with 11:50 to go. The game would be knotted again, this time at 70 with 9:35 on the clock. NDC would go back up five, and the Senators would again cut it to one (80-79) before Godinez nailed a corner 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring with 4:52 to go. That would spark a 10-0 Falcons run that made it 90-79 after a Sampson layup with 2:40 to go. The Senators would not go quietly though, as they would get to within three (91-88) with 36.6 seconds, but a pair of Roland free throws put NDC back up five. After another 3-pointer by Leslie it was 93-91 with 30 seconds. NDC would ice the game at the free throw line to get the victory.
Roland gave his thoughts:
" We fought through adversity, and dominated the glass all night,"Roland mentioned.
For the game NDC shot 52 percent from the field- 55 percent (11-20) from the 3-point line- and- 68 percent (17-25)) at the free throw line. NDC was +13 (45-32) on the glass, +9 (16-7) in second chance points, and +16 (46-30) on points in the paint. They had 17 assists, and 15 turnovers as a team for the night.
The Senators shot 48 percent from the field- 46 percent (12-26) from the 3-point line- and- 72 percent (21-29) at the free throw line. They had 18 assists- and- 14 turnovers for the game.
NDC will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Alderson Broaddus. Tip time is slated for 7:30 PM.
Other MEC Scores Monday:
Glenville State 131 Frostburg State 104
Fairmont State 90 Concord 68
Charleston 73 Wheeling 69
MEC North Standings:
Fairmont State 6-2
West LIberty 7-3
Alderson Broaddus 5-5
NDC 4-5
Frostburg State 3-6
Wheeling 2-5
MEC South:
Charleston 8-2
Glenville State 7-2
West Virginia State 6-3
Concord 4-5
Davis & Elkins 2-6
West Virginia Wesleyan 0-10
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