With roughly one month to go until the Mountain East Conference tournament the intensity and importance of games down the stretch will continue to ramp up as teams jockey for position in the MEC Tournament. The Notre Dame College Falcons and Glenville State University played in a see-saw affair at the Waco Center on the campus of GSU that reminded players, coaches and fans alike what is to come down the stretch. In a game that featured 14 ties and 23 lead changes the Falcons came away with a 97-93 win that put them ahead of the Pioneers and with a loss by West Virginia State they tied the Yellow Jackets for fourth place in the conference at 9-5. With a fourth straight win NDC improved to 12-7 and 9-5 in the conference. After the defeat the Pioneers fall to 12-8 and 8-6 in the MEC.
"Really gritty, scrappy win on the road, "NDC head coach Mark Richmond mentioned. "We made some hustle plays down the stretch that don't show up in the box score but I thought they were the reason we won the game."
NDC senior guard Jaedon Willis agreed:
"What a win for us today. Complete effort top to bottom. We knew it was going to go down to the wire, and ultimately I knew the ball would be in my hands at the end. Just had to make the right decision off of what the defense was giving me."
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively. The Pioneers scored the first five points but NDC would get layups by DeAirius Barker and Daylin Lee to make it a 5-4 GSU lead as we reached the first media timeout. The first tie of the game came on a Barker 3-pointer at the 13:55 mark of the opening half. Four ties would ensue over the next minute 56 and after a Wilis free throw completed a three point play, NDC took a 14-13 advantage. After Jamarvious Jones made a 3-pointer for the home team we would be knotted at 20 with 9:05 in the first stanza. After Isaiah Sanders made a pair of free throws and Obinna Ugwuakazi made a layup NDC was back up four. The game would be tied at 26 and 28 shortly thereafter. Barker made a layup but a Jones 3-ball put the Pioneers back in front. Lee and Willis hit back to back hoops but Jordan "Turbo" Smith knocked down a 3-pointer to knot the game at 34 with 3:32 until halftime. Smith scored and was fouled, he made the free throw and the Pioneers were back up by three. Willis made two free throws but Jay Scott countered with a 3-ball. Tyland Crawford made a basket with 28 seconds before halftime and it would be 40-38 GSU headed to the intermission.
The opening half saw Willis lead NDC with 11 points, while Barker added nine. NDC shot 51.7 percent in the opening half, were 1-6 (16.7 percent) from the 3-point line and a perfect seven of seven at the free throw line. They had seven assists and seven turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
GSU was led by Smith with 18 while Scott and Jones each had six. The Pioneers shot 42.9 percent from the field, 41.2 percent (7-17) from the 3-point line and three of three at the free throw line in the opening half. They out-rebounded NDC 19-14 in the opening stanza. GSU had nine assists and eight turnovers.
NDC came out hot in the second half. Willis tied the game with a triple on the opening possession of the frame. After a defensive stop Jamarr Talbert put NDC up by three (43-40) with his first triple of the contest. After Smith tied it with a three of his own, Talbert hit his second straight 3-ball to make it 46-43 NDC with 18:11 on the clock.
Talbert talked bout the hot hand:
"My two 3-pointer's I just wanted to be more aggressive coming out of the half."
After a layup by Smith Barker hit the Falcons third straight 3-ball to make it 49-45. The next five points would go to GSU as the Pioneers regained the lead. After trading baskets the Pioneers would open up a four point lead (57-53) as Yow and Harrison Eghan each made layups. Kaleb Torrence came off the NDC bench and hit a 3-pointer as well as a jumper to pull NDC within one (59-58) with 11:41 to go. Another 3-pointer by Barker and a put back off of an offensive rebound by Crawford gave the Falcons a 63-59 lead with 10:56 to go. GSU would again answer and retake the lead 68-67 on a Jones jumper three minutes later. The lead would then change hands seven more times before Willis buried a 3-pointer to go on a personal 5-0 run and put NDC on top 78-74 with 4:31 to go. The Pioneers would again tie it up, this time at 78 on two Freddie Word free throws at the 3:09 mark. Willis gave NDC the lead back with yet another triple. After a Lee dunk NDC was up five (83-78) with 2:33 on the clock. Yow converted an old fashioned three-point play but Lee continued to come up big as he knocked down another 3-ball, this time making it 86-81 with 1:56 on the clock. Word made two free throws but Lee would come up with another big play as he converted an and one to make it 89-83 with 1:08 to go. After GSU split two free throws NDC got two free throws by Lee and looked to be in control up seven with 41 seconds on the clock. The Pioneers would not go away. Word hit all three free throws after being fouled to cut the lead down to four. After a turnover by the Falcons Word made a layup and all of the sudden the NDC lead had been trimmed to two (91-89) with 29 seconds on the clock. Willis converted a pair of free throws but Jones did the same at the other end and NDC would need to make some more from the line to close this one out. Willis and Barker did just that and NDC came away with the 97-93 win and the season sweep of the Pioneers.
Willis talked about his teammates after this one:
"I've got 100 percent trust in my guys especially a guy like Daylin, he came through and played the way I know he can."
Willis finished the day 10-18 from the floor, 2-5 from the 3-point line and a perfect nine of nine at the free throw line. He had 31 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Barker was 6-10 from the floor, 3-4 from the 3-point line and 4-4 at the free throw line on his way to 19 points, he also dished out five assists and had a pair of steals. Lee provided 14 points off the bench as he was 5-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the 3-point line and 4-4 at the free throw line. Obinna Ugwuakazi led the team on the glass with eight rebounds. NDC shot 54.7 percent from the floor, 45 percent (9-20) from the 3-point line and 94.7 percent (18-19) from the free throw line. They had 20 assists and 14 turnovers in the contest.
Talbert gave his post game thoughts:
"This was a hard fought one. We would get the lead and then give it right back. Tyland (Crawford) had a hustle play late which gave us a spark late, we locked in and pulled the win out."
The Pioneers were paced by Smith who was 10-22 from the field and 5-15 from the 3-point line on his way to 26 points, Yow tallied 18, Word went 12-12 at the free throw line on his way to 14, while Jones added 12. Eghan led GSU on the glass with 10 boards. As a team they shot 44.9 percent from the field, 30 percent (9-30) from the 3-point line, and 84.6 percent (22-26) from the free throw line. GSU won the rebounding battle 37-32. They had 18 assists and 16 turnovers in the contest.
Richmond was pleased with his squad after this one:
"We were really good offensively in the second half. We really showed some growth today because it was a total team effort where we just refused to lose."
NDC will be back in action Monday when they host Penn State Fayette at Murphy Gym. Tip time is set for 6 PM.
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
West Liberty 108 West Virginia Wesleyan 53
Fairmont State 83 Charleston 73
Alderson Broaddus 101 Concord 100 (2 OT)
Frostburg State 78 West Virginia State 73
Davis & Elkins 90 Wheeling 81
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 12-2 (17-3)
Fairmont State 11-3 (16-4)
Charleston 11-3 (14-6)
West Virginia State 9-5 (15-5)
NDC 9-5 (12-7)
Glenville State 8-6 (12-8)
Concord 7-7 (10-9)
Davis & Elkins 5-9 (11-9)
Alderson Broaddus 5-9 (7-12)
Wheeling 3-11 (5-15)
Frostburg State 2-12 (6-14)
West Virginia Wesleyan 2-12 (2-16)
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