The Notre Dame College Falcons did something Saturday that had not been done in the regular season in the history of the program when they knocked off Fairmont State 90-84 in front of a capacity crowd at Murphy Gym. The only other time the Falcons have defeated Fairmont was in the 2015-16 MEC Tournament Quarterfinals. Will Vorhees became the all time leading scorer in NDC history when he converted a layup at the 8:43 mark.
Tim Koenig talked about how it felt to beat Fairmont for the first team ever in the regular season.
" It is a beautiful thing. I am so proud of our guys- and- so thankful to coach this group. It was an unbelievable atmosphere in this place tonight. I am not sure what the capacity is but if it wasn't a sell out- it was pretty darn close. Thanks to the students- season ticket holder's- faculty- and- staff who came out and supported us today. The guys played great." Koenig said.
Bruce Hodges had no words to describe it:
" Man it was an amazing win. I am speechless. I really have nothing to say it is so surreal." Hodges explained.
Isaiah Sanders agreed:
"The stats show what a team effort it was today. You could see it on guys faces that we were locked in. We have to keep climbing the mountain- and- they were in the way tonight. It was fun- the energy was amazing. What a great team win." Sanders stated.
Larenz Thurman talked about the importance of the win:
" Great team win. We got contributions from everyone who played. This win was huge for us." Thurman added.
NDC (16-6 12-4 MEC) won for the ninth straight time at home- and- got a third straight win overall. Vorhees led the Falcons with 34 points and nine rebounds in the game. He was one of five guys in double figures. Thurman added 18- Hodges had 13- while Sanders- and- Hamish Warden each netted 10. NDC Shot 48 percent from the floor- 17 percent (4-23) from the 3-point line- and- 84 percent (16-19) at the free throw line. The Falcons had 17 assists and five turnovers in the contest. NDC won the rebounding battle 45-38.
Koenig spoke about shot selection and balanced scoring:
" We only took a handful of shots that I did not like. For the most part our shot selection was good. I did not know we were that bad from the 3-point line. That is really bad. The fact that we took care of the ball and only had five turnovers. That was huge. We really handled the pressure well. Will did a really good job with handling the double teams- we had guys cutting to the basket for easy baskets."
Fairmont State (16-6 13-3 MEC) was led by Garfield Heights native Vonte Montgomery who had a career high 41 points- he was one of four Fighting Falcons in double figures. Andrew Emrick had 14- Kenzie Melko added 12 points and 10 rebounds- while Jason Jolly tallied 11. Fairmont shot 43 percent as a team- 33 percent (10-30) from the 3-point line- and- 76 percent (16-21) from the free throw line. The Fighting Falcons had 14 assists and 11 turnovers as a team.
Koenig talked about the defensive effort today:
" Bruce (Hodges) is a game changer on the defensive end. He held one of the best guards in the league to 3-20 from the field today. He also scored points- and- got loose balls today. Our guys are all getting better at the defensive end. Drew (Scarberry-) Hamish (Warden-) HP (Halil Parks-) Isaiah (Sanders-) they are all getting better."
The atmosphere was electric from the outset. Vorhees would score the first five points for NDC but it would be 13-5 Fairmont at the 16:48 mark of the first half. NDC would battle back and knot the game at 15 after a pair of Vorhees free throws at the 14:06 mark of the opening half. The game would be tied again- this time at 21 after a Hodges basket with 10:40 in the opening half. NDC would go back on top 33-32 after a Warden layup at the 5:21 mark of the first half. NDC would end up taking a 10 point advantage (49-39) into the locker room.
NDC shot 50 percent from the field in the opening half- 25 percent (3-12) from the 3-point line- and- 75 percent (6-8) at the free throw line. NDC had a 28-15 rebounding advantage in the first 20 minutes. They had nine assists and three turnovers as a team in the first half.
The Fighting Falcons shot 44 percent from the field- 38 percent (6-16) from the 3-point line- and- 56 percent (5-9) from the free throw line. Fairmont had seven assists and five turnovers in the half.
After a Montgomery 3-pointer Fairmont got to within six (59-53) but a Warden layup would stretch the lead to eight (61-53) with 13:12 to go. Montgomery would score the next five points and Fairmont was within three (61-58) with 12:24 to go. A pair of Warden free throws and a Thurman 3-ball made the NDC lead eight halfway thru the second half. Fairmont would cut the lead to two (78-76) after a Emrick basket with 3:09 to go. Warden would hit two more free throws- and- Hodges another layup to stretch the lead to six with under two minutes to go. After a Jolly 3-pointer- and a free throw by Jolly Fairmont was within two (82-80) with 1:03 to go. Hodges and Montgomery would trade baskets- before a Sanders layup would put NDC up four with 25 seconds to go. Montgomery would cut the lead to two (86-84) before Sanders sealed the victory with two free throws of his own.
Koenig talked about the freshman coming up big down the stretch:
" Hamish and Isaiah came up big with those free throws down the stretch. Two freshman who haven't had many opportunities that late in the game. They have put in the work all year and they came up big today."
Thurman would hit two free throws of his own to account for the 90-84 final.
Vorhees passed Tyree Gaiter as the all time leading scorer in NDC history. A few of his teammates talked about it.
First was Hodges:
" Will is the goat man. I wasn't going to say it until he passed Tyree but he is the goat."
Sanders agreed:
" Will is officially the NDC goat."
Thurman agreed:
"Will is the best in the nation."
Vorhees himself had this to say about the win:
" Just a perfect night in every way. Words can't describe it. Love my brothers. I couldn't do it without them."
Koenig talked about Vorhees breaking the record:
" So proud of Will- and what he has accomplished on and off the court. He is an unbelievable leader and the face of our program. I have run out of adjectives to describe him. He has a 3.8 GPA in the classroom- and- we all know what he can do on the court. My son Kyle when you ask him who his favorite basketball player is says it is Big Will he calls him. It's not Steph Curry- it's not Lebron but Will Vorhees that is a testament to him. The other thing that is ironic I think is that on the night he broke the record he played one of his best if not best floor games of the year. He only had one turnover- found the open man out of the double teams- had a key blocked shot- dove on the floor to get a loose ball. I am not going to see that they are more important than scoring but the stuff that didn't show up on the stat sheet is just as important. What I will say about Will is I am glad we have him on our team."
Koenig talked about what a win like this means afterwards:
" We knew we are capable. We know that if we play the right way we can beat anyone on any given night. On the other side of that we know if we don't play the right way we can lose to anyone. We will enjoy this one."
The Falcons will be back in action Thursday when they travel to Glenville State. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM and you can catch the all action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores Saturday:
Charleston 102 Glenville State 73
West Virginia State 80 West Virginia Wesleyan 65
West Liberty 110 Concord 106
Wheeling Jesuit 79 Virginia Wise 72
Shepherd 68 Urbana 58
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 15-1 (19-2)
Fairmont State 13-3 (16-6)
NDC 12-4 (16-6)
Charleston 10-6 (15-7)
Concord 9-7 (14-8)
West Virginia State 9-7 (12-10)
Shepherd 7-9 (11-11)
West Virginia Wesleyan 6-10 (9-13)
Glenville State 4-12 (9-13)
Virginia Wise 4-12 (7-15)
Wheeling Jesuit 4-12 (5-17)
Urbana 3-13 (5-15)
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