NDC Rally Falls Short Saturday.

The Notre Dame College Falcons rallied late but ultimately fell 86-77 to the Mercyhurst Lakers on Saturday afternoon at the Athletic Center. With the loss NDC has now dropped five straight and fell to 3-8 on the season. The victory by the Lakers snapped a three game losing slide and improved them to 5-4 on the year.
  The Falcons were paced by Oliver Megins and Halil Parks who scored 19 points each, Parks added six rebounds and six assists. KT Taylor (14 points-) and- Jack Kelsheimer (12) also scored in double figures in the loss.  The Falcons shot 47 percent as a team and 36 percent (11-31) from the 3-point line.  NDC shot 92 percent (12-13) from the free throw line. They had 15 assists and 18 turnovers as a team.
 Mercyhurst was led by 29 points from Lorenzo Collier- while Malcolm Walters added 23.  Derrick Ellis and Dontae Williams added eight points each as well.  The Lakers shot 45 percent from the field- 41 percent (11-27) from the 3-point line- and- 83 percent (19-23) from the free throw line.  The Lakers won the rebounding battle 37-32.  They had 19 assists and 12 turnovers in the contest.
  The Falcons got on the board first with a Drew Scarberry 3-pointer just over a minute in.  Angelo Cugini would make a layup after the Lakers Collier had done the same to give the Falcons a 5-2 lead early on.  The Lakers would then run off the next seven points before another Cugini basket.  After Parks and Walters traded baskets the Lakers would go on a 8-0 run to take a 19-9 lead after a Collier bucket at the 12:49 mark of the opening half.  The Lakers would stretch the lead to 17 (33-16) after a Ellis 3-pointer with 6:30 to go in the opening half.  The Falcons would then go on a run themselves and cut the lead to six (37-31) after a Megins jumper with 2:04 to play in the half.  Walters would hit another 3-pointer and it would be a nine point (40-31) Mercyhurst lead at the break.
Coach Tim Koenig talked about energy and rebounding early:
" The glass really hurt us out of the shoot.  We had lots of good looks in the first half but could not knock them down." Koenig said."
  The Falcons shot 46 percent in the opening half. They made just 4-14 (29 percent) from the 3-point line.  The Falcons made all three free throw attempts in the opening stanza.  They had seven assists and eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes. They were out-rebounded 19-12 in the opening stanza.  Taylor lead NDC with 10 points and Megins seven in the first 20 minutes.
  The Lakers were led in the first 20 minutes by Walters and Collier with 12 points each.  They shot 50 percent as a team in the opening half- 47 percent (7-15) from the 3-point line.  They split the two free throws they attempted in the opening stanza.  They had 12 assists  and seven turnovers as a team.
  The second half begin with the Lakers extending the lead to 14.  NDC would then go on a 8-0 run capped by a Megins 3-pointer to cut the lead to six (47-41) at the 11:23 mark.  The Lakers would once again extend the lead to 14 (60-46) after a pair of free throws. After a Collier 3-pointer the lead would be 18 (70-52) at the 3:04 mark.  The Falcons would rally and get to within seven but that is as close as they would get.
  Koenig broke it down plain and simply:
" We had three categories we spoke about prior to the game turnovers, turnover margin, and rebounding. We lost all three and we lost the game. " Koenig said."
 On if anything surprised the Falcons of what the Lakers did:
" We played a lot more man to man defense than I thought we would. Other than that everything was as expected. " Koenig said."
  On the play he has received from Kelsheimer of late:
" Jack will give you everything he has every game. He will execute to a t. He will hit the open shots and hardly turns the ball over. He had two today which is very uncharacteristic for him. " Koenig said."
  On playing against Collier and Collins:
" Those guys made shots. We had some defensive breakdowns. Those guys are really good players who played very well. Every time we cut into the lead it would be one of those guys who made the shots to stem the run. " Koenig said."
On the fact that the shots were not going in until the last two or three minutes and then everything went in:
" That was desperation.  Those shots were all closely contested." Koenig said."
On what he wants to see more of in the next game:
"Keep the basketball out of the paint. I really really want these guys to keep the basketball out of the paint.  We also need to cut down on turnovers, 12 or less would be ideal. " Koenig said."
NDC will be back in action Tuesday when they face Gannon in Erie,PA. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.