The Notre Dame College Falcons got 38 points and 14 rebounds from Will Vorhees- Larenz Thurman added 23- and- they came away with a 87-78 win over Shepherd at the Butcher Center Thursday night. With the win NDC improved to 11-4 and 7-2 in the MEC. After the defeat Shepherd fell to 9-6 and 5-4 in the MEC.
Vorhees had 38 points and 14 rebounds- Thurman scored 21 of his 23 in the second half behind six 3-pointer's- and- Isaiah Sanders added 11. NDC shot 53 percent as a team- 42 percent (10-24) from the 3-point line- and- 65 percent (11-17) at the free throw line. NDC had 13 assists and eight turnovers in the contest.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about the win:
" Big win against a really good team tonight. So proud of these guys."
He talked about the way they defended Vorhees:
" In the first half they guarded Will one and one and he was really good. In the second half they left the perimeter open and we made them pay. Larenz shot the ball really well.'
Drew Scarberry agreed:
" The way they were guarding the perimeter players allowed Will to get one on one in the paint- and- that's where they went wrong. Will dominated all night long. In the second half they adjusted their defense but forgot about Larenz on the 3-point line. He made them pay for that. Well done by the team focusing on the scouting report- and- executing the offense."
Drew Scarberry only scored six points Thursday but found his way into the NDC record books- being only the fourth NDC player to reach 200 3-pointer's made in his career."
Bruce Hodges talked about that:
" Congrats to Drew. Very proud of the kid. He works and works on the jumper daily."
Hodges spoke about Vorhees and Thurman as well:
" Will is the best player in the nation. We continue to say it. Larenz was big tonight especially in the second half."
Hamish Warden talked about what is like to play with this group:
" So good playing with these guys. Everyone giving 110 percent and doing what they can to get the win. Will was really good tonight- and- is so fun to watch as well as be teammates with. Everyone was making the extra pass and playing defense. It is fun to play and watch. I feel like we are starting to gain momentum."
Koenig talked about the collective effort:
" Great effort by so many guys tonight. Hamish (Warden) was really good- Will and Renz were good as always. HP (Halil Parks) was really good on defense and played really well. Dan Atcheson was really good the couple minutes he played in the first half. Zay (Sanders) made plays."
Hodges talked about Warden and Atcheson:
Big Dan (Atcheson) and Hamish came in and gave us huge minutes. Hamish hit a three and rebounded it really well. Big Dan came in solid on the defensive end."
Shepherd was led by Jon Preston with 17- Tommy Lang had 16- Derek McKnight had 13- and- Devin Smith had 10. The Rams shot 38 percent in the game- 25 percent (8-32) from the 3-point line- and- 58 percent (14-24) at the free throw line. Shepherd won the rebounding battle 45-42. They had 12 assists and eight turnovers as a team.
Koenig talked about enjoying the win then getting back to work:
"We will enjoy this one. We will get back to work then- and- we have our work cut out for us against Fairmont on Saturday."
NDC jumped out to a 4-0 lead early before a seven point run by the Rams gave them the lead. The game was tightly contested until a run by NDC gave them a 11 point lead (45-34) at the half. Scarberry hit his 3-pointer at the end of the first half that was the 200th of his career with under a minute to go.
Vorhees led NDC with 22 points and seven rebounds in the first half- wile Sanders had 11. NDC shot 53 percent as a team- 30 percent (3-10) from the 3-point line- and- 75 percent (6-8) at the free throw line. The Falcons had five assists and one turnovers in the opening half.
The Rams shot 35 percent in the opening half- 24 percent (4-17) from the 3-point line- and- 50 percent (4-8) at the free throw line. The Rams had three assists and three turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
The second half saw the Falcons take control and lead by as many as 22 with six minutes to go. Shepherd cut it to seven with under a minute to go but could not complete the comeback.
Koenig talked about the finish:
" We were really good for 35-36 minutes tonight but we need to finish. We have room for growth especially on the glass."
NDC will be back in action Saturday at Fairmont State. Tip time is 4 PM- and- as always you can catch the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores Thursday:
Charleston 76 West Virginia Wesleyan 67
West Liberty 108 Virginia Wise 93
Urbana 78 Fairmont State 76
Concord 88 Wheeling Jesuit 68
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 8-1 (12-2)
Fairmont State 8-1 (11-4)
NDC 7-2 (11-4)
Concord 6-3 (10-4)
\Charleston 5-4 (10-5)
Shepherd 5-4 (9-6)
West Virginia State 4-5 (7-8)
West Virginia Wesleyan 3-6 (6-9)
Urbana 3-6 (5-8)
Virginia Wise 3-6 (5-9)
Glenville State 2-7 (7-8)
Wheeling Jesuit 0-9 (1-14)
Comments