Jaedon Willis scored 20 points and Tyland Crawford added 17 but it was not enough as the Notre Dame College Falcons got to within six points with 14:46 to go but ultimately fell 96-75 to the fifth ranked West Liberty Hilltoppers in the Mountain East Conference Semifinals at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.
"Obviously a disappointing result. I though our effort was good and I don't know if our execution was great. It's a game of runs and we just never got all the way back into it. It got away from us a couple times, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond explained.
Bryce Butler hit a 3-pointer on the Hilltoppers opening possession and they would jump out to an 11-2 lead after a Chaz Hinds layup. NDC would then go on a quick 4-0 burst as graduate student Tyland Crawford hit a jumper and then knocked down another jump shot after a steal by sophomore Jamarr Talbert. It was a 10 point WLU lead (20-10) after a Butler triple at the 13:17 mark of the opening stanza. NDC would go on a 8-0 run to get to within two (20-18) as Willis knocked down a jumper at the 11:20 mark of the opening half. After a Ben Sarson 3-pointer Crawford made a layup at the 10:57 mark of the opening stanza. The next five points would go to West Liberty but Willis would score again and Gbolahan Adio made it a four point game (28-24) after a jump shot at the 7:48 mark of the half. After WLU split a pair of free throws Crawford hit another jumper to pull NDC within three (29-26) with 6:29 until halftime. A 10-0 run made it a 13 point game and the Hilltoppers would lead by 14 (46-32) heading into halftime.
Crawford went a perfect five of five from the floor in the opening half to score his 10 points while Willis added eight. NDC shot 47 percent from the field in the opening stanza, 0-7 from the 3-point line, and 50 percent (2-4) from the free throw line.
The Hilltoppers shot 52 percent in the opening frame, 50 percent (9-18) from the 3-point line, and 50 percent (3-6) from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
After the Hilltoppers got the opening basket of the second half NDC went on a 9-0 run courtesy of five points from Obinna Ugwuakazi and four from Crawford. After Crawford completed an old fashioned three-point play at the 15:52 mark all of the sudden NDC was within six (48-42.) After a steal by Deairius Barker NDC could not convert and it was WLU who went on a 8-0 run after a Malik McKinney layup with 13:10 on the clock. Talbert hit a triple for NDC at the 10:46 mark and NDC was within 13 (62-49.) After two Willis free throws it was a 14 point game a minute later. That is as close as NDC would get the rest of the way as the Falcons season came to an end at 17-13. West Liberty improved to 27-3 and advanced to Sunday's Championship game where they will face #2 Fairmont State Sunday at 5 PM.
NDC was led by the aforementioned Willis who scored 20 points in his final game as a Falcon and Crawford who went 8-10 from the floor on his way to a 17 point effort.
Richmond talked about Willis:
"Obviously Jaedon has been really consistent. He has been super loyal over the last two years. I really appreciate his effort. He has gotten us out of a lot of tough situations. When our offense begins to sputter he's a guy who is explosive and gets us over the hump. We will definitely miss him."
Willis talked about the quick turnaround after playing last night:
"Sometimes you bounce back better than other times. It was not my best bounce back today but West Lib is a really good team. You honestly have to be just about perfect to be with them at the end."
Barker also scored 16 points. Ugwuakazi once again led the team in rebounding with 11. As a team NDC shot 45 percent from the field, 11 percent (2-18) from the 3-point line, and 71 percent (17-24) at the free throw line. NDC won the rebounding battle 36-35. They had nine assists and 21 turnovers in the defeat.
Richmond talked about the cold shooting night:
"We made a bunch of 3-pointer's yesterday and did not make enough today. I feel like we took the right ones."
Then he talked about dealing with the unorthodox style of the Hilltoppers:
"It is easy for it to get away from you. Obviously they play that style It's an accumulation of all these kinds of runs that add up to a 20 point loss."
West Liberty was led by Butler who scored 22 points and pulled down a game high 16 rebounds, Sarson added 14, McKinney added 13, and both Steve Cannady and Zach Rasile notched 11.
Richmond talked about Butler:
"Bryce is a guy who does what he is good at. He gets to his right hand and is hard to stop. His effort and energy is contagious to that West Liberty team. You wouldn't think watching the game he had 22 and 16 but that was the case. He makes big plays when they need him. He's a big reason they are really, really good."
As a team West Liberty shot 53 percent from the field, 44 percent (12-27) from the 3-point line, and 77 percent (20-26) from the free throw line. They had 18 assists and 17 turnovers in the contest.
NDC completed the season with a 17-13 record. Willis was just outside the top 10 in program history scoring 1,204 points and in his two years in South Euclid he averaged 20.8 points per game which is second best in NDC history. Ugwuakazi was just outside the top 10 as well in rebounds in an MEC Tournament with 30.
Crawford gave his final thoughts:
" This (tonight) does not take away from what we did this year. It was a long season. It was Jaedon and I's last year. We had our ups and downs. We wanted to make the most out of each and everyday. This was a tough group that we had and I would go to battle with them any day."
Willis gave his final thoughts:
"The one thing this team did really well this season was stick together. When we lost a couple of games our focus never wavered, especially in practice. We came ready to win. Today's game doesn't take away from what we did this year."
Other MEC Semifinal Saturday:
Fairmont State 76 Davis & Elkins 65
MEC Championship Game Sunday (5 PM:)
Atlantic Region Rankings:
Indiana (PA) 26-1
West Liberty 25-3
MercyHurst 22-4
Virginia Union 22-7
Fairmont State 21-6
Pitt-Johnstown 18-9
West Chester 21-7
East Stroudsburg 21-7
West Virginia State 19-8
Winston-Salem 18-8
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