Succesful Senior Night! NDC Edges Urbana Saturday.

The Notre Dame College Falcons ended a season high nine game losing streak with a 83-74 win over Urbana on senior night at Murphy Gym on Saturday. With the win NDC completes the season sweep of Urbana and ends the 2017-18 campaign with a 6-22 record and 4-18 in the MEC. With the loss Urbana falls to 4-24 and 3-19 in the MEC.
  Drew Scarberry made seven of his eight 3-pointer's in the second half to pace the Falcons with 26 points. Angelo Cugini added 17 points-  Aaron Beidleman got his first career start and scored 15 points to along with four assists and two steals in 26 minutes of action. KT Taylor rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points- five assists- and- four steals. Oliver Megins also made a large contribution in this one with seven points- nine rebounds- and seven assists in his final collegiate game.  NDC shot 56 percent as a team- 48 percent (10-21) from the 3-point line- and- 81 percent (13-16) from the free throw line.  The Falcons and Blue Knights each had 27 rebounds in the game.  The Falcons had 22 assists and 15 turnovers in the victory.
Malik Jacobs led Urbana with 15 points- Aarmanni Garnett netted 14- while Chris Jackson scored 13 in the loss.  The Blue Knights shot 53 percent from the floor in the contest- they shot 26 percent (5-19) from the 3-point line as well.  Urbana struggled at the free throw line where they shot 50 percent (5-10.)  The Blue Knights had 11 assists and 18 turnovers as a team.
  Spearhanded by seniors Taylor- Megins- and- Beidleman the Falcons got off to a good start and led 11-9 after a Halil Parks jumper at the 14:48 mark of the opening half.  The game would be deadlocked at 17 halfway thru the opening half.  After back to back 3-pointer's by Cugini and Scarberry NDC led 25-19 with 7:51 to go in the first half.  The Blue Knights would go up by seven (34-27) after Roy Hatchett Jr. knocked down a 3-pointer to cap a 15-2 Urbana run. The Blue Knights would take a 38-31 lead at the half.
 The Blue Knights were led by Jacobs and AJ Washington who had nine points each in the first half.  The Blue Knights shot 55 percent in the stanza- they shot 40 percent (4-10) from the 3-point line in the half.  Urbana shot 40 percent (2-5) at the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.  The Blue Knights won the rebounding battle 16-12 in the opening half.  Urbana had eight assists and 10 turnovers in the half.
  NDC was led by Taylor who scored eight points in the opening half.  Angelo Cugini scored seven in the half- while Halil Parks chipped in six.   The Falcons shot 46 percent in the opening half- they shot 30 percent (3-10) from the 3-point line.  The Falcons made both free throws in the opening half. NDC had eight assists and nine turnovers in the opening half.
   The Falcons came out with a purpose in the second half. After being down by eight (46-38) the Falcons would go on a 14-2 run as Scarberry would drill a pair of 3-pointers to put the Falcons up 52-48 at the 13:42 mark.  Scarberry would hit a pair more 3-pointer's and NDC led 58-53 at the 10:57 mark.  The Blue Knights would get to within two (58-56) when Scarberry drained another 3-pointer at the 9:35 mark.  The Blue Knights would get to within one with just under five minutes to go and one second on the shot clock.  The Falcons got the inbounds into Cugini who scored the basket at the 4:52 mark.
" We executed that play to a T. It was a big moment in the game obviously." Coach Tim Koenig mentioned."
 The Falcons would secure the win with some solid free throw shooting down the stretch to end the season on a high note.
 Drew Scarberry spoke about finding his touch:
" In the first half I had a hard time finding my touch. In the second half that changed." Scarberry said."
On getting this win for the Seniors and the season as a whole:
" Aaron Beidleman played a great game today. He busts his butt in practice everyday and really played well today. KT and Ollie gave us big minutes as well. I am just glad that I could help this team in getting this win and leave it all on the floor for these seniors today." Scarberry said."
On his teammates:
" All the credit goes to my teammates in this win. We are a band of brothers and they were getting me the ball in the right spots today. It was fun to be a part of this game.  They set great screens for me and that is a testament to them as well." Scarberry said."
On how much work he puts in on his shot to make days like this possible:
" I would say that Jack Kelsheimer is the hardest worker on our team. But I would like to think that I am up there." Scarberry said."
 Beidleman gave his thoughts on the game and the season:
" It was a great opportunity today and I seized the moment. You do not take anything for granted. We have had a lot of injuries this year. For me starting the year on the JV team and being a part of the varsity has been a dream of mine that came true this season. You do not take anything for granted and it has been fun to be around these guys this season." Beidleman said."
 KT Taylor gave his thoughts on the season and what it was like for him in a different role:
" It has been a different season for me. With the injury to Will(Vorhees-) not having Ja'Sean (Lewis) and Kobie (Johnson) anymore I have not been getting many open looks this season.  I would say that I have adapted the best that I can. It has been a rough season. I have looked to pass the ball more this year and tried to get some looks for other guys. " Taylor said."
 On the defensive effort today and the matchup against Urbana:
" We seem to matchup pretty well against Urbana. For whatever reason we seem to shoot better against Urbana than we have against any other team. Defensively we played very well today. I was just trying to get my hands on as many balls as I could. Get my hands in the passing lanes." Taylor said."
Coach Tim Koenig talked about how happy he is for this group:
" I am so happy for this group of guys. It was so great to send these seniors out with a victory. " Koenig said."
Free throw shooting was one key:
" We made free throws today. Down the stretch we sealed the win by making free throws and that was huge." Koenig said."
On the defense:
" We forced a lot of turnovers today and that played a big role in this win. Not sure if that was the highest turnover number we have forced this year, but it had to be close (with 18.) ." Koenig said."
  On execution:
" We did a great job executing today. We talked about the play with one second left on the shot clock and that was huge. Also we ran a few staggered screens for Drew that got him open from the 3-point line. Again I am so happy for these kids. AB- Ollie- and- KT were so good today. KT was great at the top of the zone.He will go down as one of the greatest players the school has ever seen. Ollie with a real good all around game and what can you say about Aaron other than he played a hell of a game. As a team we got the ball in the post today and even when Angelo did not score he touched it. We executed very well and we came out on top." Koenig said."
Other MEC Games Saturday:
Glenville State 71 West Virginia Wesleyan 67
Fairmont State 79 Shepherd 76
Wheeling Jesuit 84 West Liberty 74
Charleston 82 West Virginia State 72
Concord 90 Virginia Wise 81
Final MEC Standings:
West Liberty 20-2 (25-2)
Wheeling Jesuit 18-4 (23-5)
Fairmont State 17-5 (21-7)
Shepherd 12-10 (16-12)
Charleston 12-10 (16-12)
Concord 12-10 (16-12)
Virginia Wise 11-11 (13-15)
West Virginia State 10-12 (12-15)
West Virginia Wesleyan 7-15 (7-21)
Glenville State 6-16 (8-20)
NDC 4-18 (6-22)
Urbana 3-19 (4-24)
MEC Tournament Pairings:
Wednesday 2/28:
#7 Virginia Wise vs #10 Glenville State
#8 West Virginia State vs #9 West Virginia Wesleyan
Thursday 3/1:
#1 West Liberty vs 8/9 winner
#2 Wheeling Jesuit vs 7/10 winner
#3 Fairmont State vs #6 Concord
#4 Shepherd vs #5 Charleston