Gaiter's Big Day Lifts NDC Past Wheeling Jesuit.

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. Two weeks ago after a 75-55 loss to Wheeling Jesuit at Murphy Gym when Tryee Gaiter struggled through arguably his worst game as a Falcon NDC came away with a 76-68 upset win over the fourth ranked and second seeded Cardinals behind a 39-point effort from Gaiter at the Charleston Civic Center. With the win NDC improves to 21-10 on the year, while the Cardinals fall to 28-3.
 NDC also saw Ryan Hickoff post double figures with 12 points- Will Vorhees added a double-double (11 points and 10 rebounds.) NDC shot 40 percent (25-62) from the field- they really struggled from the 3-point line, where they shot 20 percent (5-25.-) The Falcons were a solid 81 percent (21-26) from the free throw line.  Each team grabbed 45 rebounds. The Falcons had 13 assists and nine turnovers.
  Wheeling was led by 18 points from Justin Fritts- Eric Siefert netted 11-while Haywood Highsmith chipped in 10. The Cardinals shot 38 percent from the field (28-74-) they shot at a 23 percent clip (7-31) from the 3-point line. The Cardinals shot an abysmal 33 percent (5-15) at the free throw line. They had 20 assists and 10 turnovers.
  It was Wheeling who got off to a good start and led 7-3 in the early going. NDC responded with a 12-3 run (10 by Gaiter) to take a 15-9 lead at the 11:26 mark of the opening half. The game went back and forth the remainder of the half and the Falcons took a 34-32 lead into the intermission.
  The Cardinals scored nine of the first 11 points in the second half to take a five point lead (41-36) early on in the stanza. Ja'Sean Lewis would drained a 3-pointer to cap a 7-2 run to knot the game at 43. The Falcons would then run off the next six points. The Falcons would stretch the lead to 10 (64-54) at the 4:23 mark.
 Wheeling would not go away though. They would get to within four (66-62) at the 1:27 mark. Gaiter sealed the upset win for NDC by all eight of his free throw attempts in the final minute.
NDC advances to the Mountain East Conference Semifinals where they will take on fourth seeded Concord. Tip time on Sunday is set for 3:30 PM.  Concord swept the season series from the Falcons.
Other MEC Scores:
#4 Concord 92 #1 West Liberty 90 (2 OT)