Five Things (Good and Bad) Falcons 2016-17

The Good:
1. On 1/10 NDC improved to 11-3 overall and 6-2 in the MEC with a win over Virginia Wise that made it eight in a row for the Falcons
2. Will Vorhees was named First Team All-MEC
3. Kyauta Taylor was named Second Team All-MEC
4. Vorhees set a new school record with 48 points versus Urbana on February 25th
5. Drew Scarberry led the team in 3-point shooting 45 percent for the season. This included a game versus West Virginia State where he knocked down eight 3-pointer's.
The Bad:
1. The season comes to a screeching halt with a tough three point loss to Shepherd in Charleston,West Virginia.
2. After a 11-3 start, the Falcons go 5-10 the rest of the way.
3. Kobie Johnson goes down with a injury vs Fairmont State. He would come back but would be out four weeks prior to returning.
4. The Falcons would suffer a devastating loss at home to Concord leading up to the tournament on 2/18
5. Despite the record breaking day from Vorhees NDC would lose to Urbana in the season finale.

Tough One To Swallow.

The Notre Dame College Falcons and Shepherd Rams squared off in a MEC tournament game at the Charleston Civic Center Friday night. NDC had a few chances late and could not get over the hump in a 71-68 loss.
  Steffen Davis led Shepherd with 23 points- and AJ Carr added 22 for the Rams. Shepherd shot 35 percent from the floor and 36 percent (10-28) from the 3-point line. Shepherd shot 68 percent (17-25) at the free throw line.  They had 15 assists and 14 turnovers.
  NDC (16-13) was led by a double-double from Will Vorhees (27 points and 11 rebounds.-) Kyauta  Taylor added 22 and Jay Banaysz had 11 for the Falcons. NDC shot 45 percent from the floor- went 6-20 (30 percent-) from the 3-point line and  NDC was 8 of 11 (73 percent) from the free throw line.  NDC won the rebounding battle 46-37.  NDC had 15 assists and 19 turnovers as a team.
  Shepherd jumped out to a 5-0 lead early. The Falcons would eventually tie the game at 14 with 9:17 in the half after a Vorhees basket.  Taylor would nail a 3-pointer with 5:30 in the half to give NDC the lead.  NDC stretched the lead to nine and would eventually lead 31-27 at halftime.
  Shepherd would tie the game at 36 with 15:36 to go.  Shepherd would regain the lead- and NDC would knot the game at 44 with 11:42 to go. The teams would go back and forth for the next few minutes and after a Banaysz layup at the 9:01 mark it would again be knotted at 50.  Shepherd would open up a six point lead (58-52) after a pair of Davis free throws at the 6:37 mark. NDC would battle back once again and tie it at 58 as Vorhees would score all six points capped by a pair of free throws at the 5:07 mark.  Shepherd would run off the next six points and lead 64-58 at the 3:28 mark of the contest.  A pair of Vorhees baskets as well as another Taylor 3-pointer would spark a quick 7-1 spurt and the game would be tied at 65 with 1:44 to go.  After Car split a pair of free throws to give Shepherd a brief lead- NDC would regain the lead on Taylor's sixth 3-pointer of the contest with 48 seconds to go.  Carr would answer with a 3-pointer of his own for the Rams with 32 seconds to go and NDC would call timeout  down one with 26 seconds to go.  The Falcons would get the ball inside and come up empty after a pair of missed free throws.  Davis would make both free throws to put the Rams up 3. NDC would have one last chance but Taylor's off balance three was off the mark.
  Shepherd advances to the MEC Semifinals Saturday at 6 PM where they will take on top seeded Fairmont State.
 NDC's Vorhees was named First Team All Conference and Taylor Second Team All Conference prior to Friday's contest.
Other MEC Quarterfinal Scores:
#2 West Liberty 75 #7 Glenville State 71
#3 Wheeling Jesuit 90 #6 West Virginia Wesleyan 63
#1 Fairmont State 76 #8 Charleston 64
MEC Semifinals Saturday:
#1 Fairmont State93 #4 Shepherd 65
#2 West Liberty 105 #3 Wheeling Jesuit 95
MEC Finals Sunday:
#2 West Liberty 67 #1 Fairmont State 65-

A Season On The Line.

When the Notre Dame College Falcons and Shepherd Rams meet on Friday evening at the Charleston Civic Center in the Quarterfinals of the MEC Conference Tournament it will be a virtual elimination game that you can see on NotreDameFalcons.com. The winner will advance to play on Saturday, while the loser will see what was a promising season come to a screeching halt. Such is life in March in college basketball.
  The Rams (18-10) were 9-5 both at home and on the road this season.  The last time out they were a 95-80 loser to top ranked Fairmont State. The Rams won both meetings with the Falcons during the regular season, First a one point win in South Euclid, before a seven point win at Shepherd.  The Rams come into the game averaging 77.5 points a game as a team- while they allow 73 points per contest.
  Individually four Rams players average in double figures on the season.  Steffan Davis leads the way at 16.4 points per game- AJ Carr scores 15.6 a contest- Naim Muhhamed scores 12.2 a night- and- Skyler Roman scores 12 a game.  Muhhamed leads the team in assists at 4.6 a night- while Carr leads the team averaging 7.3 rebounds a game.
  NDC (16-12) is coming off a 91-88 loss to Urbana last time out. Will Vorhees scored a school record 48 points in the defeat.  The Falcons like Shepherd have an identical record both at home and on the road, 7-6 for them. As a team the Falcons average 82.8 points a game- while they give up 82.7 a night. They out rebound the opposition by more than three boards per contest (40.8 to 37.4-) and also average 4.9 blocks a night, as opposed to 1.9 for the opposition.
  Vorhees averages a double-double (26.8 points and 10.3 rebounds-) Kyauta Taylor is second on the team in scoring (20.8 per night-) Drew Scarberry had a big second half of the season and averages 10.5 a game (shoots 45 percent from the 3-point line-) Ja'Sean Lewis leads the team in assists at 5.2 a night.
  MEC Opening Round Wednesday:
#7 Glenville State 84 #10 Virginia Wise 66
#8 Charleston 76 #9 Urbana 62
Friday Quarterfinals (At Charleston Civic Center:)
#2 West Liberty vs #7 Glenville State  Noon
#3 Wheeling Jesuit vs #6 West Virginia Wesleyan 2:15
#8 Charleston vs #1 Fairmont State 6 PM
#4 Shepherd vs #5 Notre Dame College 815 PM
Atlantic Region Rankings (Top Eight Qualify For 2017 NCAA Tournament:)
1. Fairmont State 27-1
2. Indiana (PA) 26-2
3. Kutztown 23-2
4. West Liberty 25-3
5. Shippensburg 21-3
6. Wheeling Jesuit 21-6
7.  Virginia Union 22-6
8. Virginia State 20-6
9. Shepherd 18-10
10. East Stroudsburg 16-10