Putting the Fight To The Falcons.

The Notre Dame Falcons (16-14 11-11 MEC) saw their 2014-15 basketball season come to an end Friday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center when they fell to the Fighting Falcons of Fairmount State 71-57. It was the third time the Fighting Falcons defeated NDC on the year.
  Jamel Morris had a monster game for the Fighting Falcons (20-9), as he drilled nine 3-pointers en route to his 32 points- Thomas Wimbush netted 17- while Nick Harney tallied a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds.)  FSU shot 42 percent (22-53) from the floor on the day- they shot 46 percent (10-22) from the 3-point line. The Fighting Falcons were a solid 90 percent (17-19) from the free throw line.  They out rebounded NDC 31-30.  FSU had 16 assists and only eight turnovers.
   NDC struggled to score for one of the few times this season. They were led by a trio of players in double figures.  Lawrence DeArmond and Tyree Gaiter led the way with 15 points. The contest was the last for DeArmond in a NDC uniform. The senior was all conference first team, along with Gaiter.  Will Vorhees added 10 points.
  NDC shot 42 percent (19-45) from the floor on the day. The Falcons undoing was from the 3-point line, where they shot 25 percent (4-16) in the contest.  They shot 71 percent (15-21) from the free throw line.  NDC had 11 assists and 12 turnovers.
  The game got off to a quick start in the first six minutes with both teams shooting the ball very well. NDC had a slight edge (15-12) at that point.  The Fighting Falcons then took advantage of a NDC drought to go on a 9-1 run that gave them a 11 point lead (24-13.)  NDC would get to within six on a pair of occasions but ultimately FSU would take a nine point lead (31-22) into halftime.
  The second half saw FSU stretch the lead to 12, before NDC would get to within four (39-35) after a pair of DeArmond free throws at the 15:29 mark.   The Fighting Falcons would go on a 6-0 spurt of their own to stretch the lead to 10 shortly there after.  NDC would not go quietly as they would get to within three (49-46) at the 9:42 mark.  Morris would stall the NDC run and get the Fighting Falcons going again with one of his MEC tournament record nine 3-pointer's.  The Fighting Falcons would close the game out at the free throw line and advance to the conference Semifinals.
 

Falcons Survive First Round Scare.

The Notre Dame Falcons had four players score in double figures, three of them putting up 20+ points, and they won a 98-93 thriller at Murphy Gym in the first round of the MEC tournament presented by Go Mart Tuesday night.
  NDC (16-13 11-11 MEC) eliminated West Virginia State for the second straight year.  The Falcons Lawrence DeArmond made his last game at Murphy Gym a memorable one as he scored 33 points on the night- while Will Vorhees and Tyree Gaiter added 22 points each.  Kyauta Taylor also scored in double figures with 12.  The Falcons shot a blistering 55 percent (35-64) from the field on the night- they made 45 percent (9-20) of their shots from the 3-point line.  The Falcons shot 61 percent (19-31) from the free throw line.  NDC had 11 assists and just seven turnovers in the contest.
  For the Yellow Jackets (6-25 6-16 MEC) they were led by Damion Harris and Dominic Phillips with 19 points each- Dimitrous Jelen-Joy added 14- while Markee Mazyck chipped in 13.  The Yellow Jackets shot 54 percent (35-65) from the floor in the game- they made good on 44 percent (10-23) from the 3-point line- they shot 77 percent (13-17) at the free throw line.  They Yellow Jackets won the rebounding battle 38-31.  They had 15 assists and 13 turnovers.
 NDC's hot shooting began from the outset.  NDC made the first eight shots they took and led 20-9 behind eight points each from Vorhees and DeArmond in the five minutes.  NDC went cold missing the next five shots they attempted and State responded to knot the game at 28 at the 8:39 mark in the half after a jumper by Cody Morris.  The Falcons had the lead almost the entire half but the Jackets would take a 37-35 lead at the 3:31 mark on a pair of Awwal Reid free throws.  NDC could not convert at the free throw line, missing six of eight attempts and ultimately that would be the reason the Yellow Jackets would take a 46-44 lead after a Dominic Phillips jumper into the locker room.  The other big story of the first half was the respective leading scorers for each team (Gaiter for NDC) and Mazyck for West Virginia State were saddled with foul trouble.  Mazyck who came in averaging 21 a game, did not score in the opening half. Gaiter had just four in the first.
  The second half began with neither team pulling away and after eight minutes the game would again be tied this time at 65.  NDC got a 7-0 run and would open up a 10 point lead (72-62.) The lead would grow to as many as 11 (84-73) after Gaiter hit a pair of free throws at the 5:12 mark.  The Yellow Jackets would not go away and get to within one (91-90) at the 1:22 mark.  But Gaiter and the Falcons cashed in at the foul line to close out the victory.  Gaiter scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, including seven free throws in the final two minutes.
 Mazyck scored 13 points (all in the second half) but it was not enough. He would eventually foul out after playing just 17 minutes.
  NDC advances to the MEC Quarterfinals where they will take on the Fighting Falcons of Fairmount State. Tip time is set for 12 PM Friday at the Charleston (West Virginia) Civic Center.  The Fighting Falcons swept the season series from NDC. Winning 90-72 on January 5th at FSU, before knocking off NDC 72-62 on February 7th at Murphy Gym.
 
 

Falcons Survive Blue Knights Saturday.

The Notre Dame Falcons (15-13 11-11 MEC) got a 3-pointer from Oliver Meggins at the buzzer to force overtime and went on to a 109-98 win against the Urbana Blue Knights (6-22 3-19 MEC.) at Murphy Gym on Saturday.  The win completed the season sweep of Urbana for NDC.
  The Falcons were paced by four players in double figures.  Tyree Gaiter (27 points and 11 assists) and Will Vorhees (25 points and 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles- while Lawrence DeArmond netted 20- and- Meggins scored 17 including the big 3-pointer at the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime.  The Falcons shot the ball well on the day.  They shot 50 percent (35-70) from the field on the day- from the 3-point line they shot 47 percent (15-32.)  The Falcons shot at a 80 percent clip (24-30) from the free throw line.  NDC edged the Blue Knights in the rebounding battle 41-37.  They had 28 assists and 11 turnovers as a team.
  For the Blue Knights Myles Busby led the way with 31 points and 12 rebounds- Carlas Jackson chipped in 27- while Matt Csuhran scored 16.  The Blue Knights also shot 50 percent as a team (37-74.) - from the 3-point line they shot 37 percent (11-30.)  They shot at a 68 percent clip (13-19) from the free throw line.  They had 22 assists and 12 turnovers in the contest.
  The game started out with NDC taking a 6-2 lead in the early going, before the Blue Knights ran off the next eight points.  The Blue Knights would lead by as many as six (32-26) in the first half before the Falcons closed the half on a 10-3 run to take a 42-39 lead into halftime.
  The second half saw the Falcons push the lead to 12 a couple times and they looked to be in control with a 81-69 lead at the 4:34 mark.  The Blue Knights had other ideas.  The next three minutes would see Urbana go on a 16-3 run to take a 85-84 lead with 1:33 remaining.  Urbana had a three point lead (92-89) late before Meggins heroics forced overtime.
  The Falcons then out scored Urbana 17-6 in the overtime.  The Blue Knights scored the first bucket of the overtime before NDC would score the next 10 points to take control over the next four minutes and secure the victory on senior day.
 NDC secured the seventh seed in the MEC tournament and will take on 10th seeded West Virginia State Tuesday night at Murphy Gym. The two teams split in the regular season, with each winning at home.  Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.