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.