NDC Furious Rally Falls Short Thursday.

The Notre Dame Falcons were down by 11 points with 5:24 seconds to go, got to within a point in the final minute but ultimately fell 82-79 at the Waco Center on the campus of Glenville State College on Thursday night. With the loss NDC has now dropped eight straight and fell to 3-10 on the season and 1-6 in the MEC. With the victory Glenville State won consecutive games for the first time this season after starting 0-10. The Pioneers are now 2-10 and 1-6 in the MEC.
  The Falcons were led by Drew Scarberry who scored all 20 of his points in the second half. Coach Tim Koenig talked about the adjustment that was made to get Scarberry going:
" We made a conscious effort to get Drew involved in more down screen action both on and off the ball. He hit some transition 3's which is the best time for a guy to get going when a defense is not set. " Koenig said."
  KT Taylor scored 15 points and Oliver Megins added 12 for NDC in the losing effort. Asked if he saw anything different from GSC that he had not seen from any other team defensively, Taylor mentioned no he did not.
 Koenig spoke about Taylor and Parks having a off night offensively:
" It was just one of those nights for Halil and KT tonight. They missed free throws which rarely happens. Nobody is defending you at the free throw line." Koenig said."
 "They had  a lot of help on ball screens versus KT and HP as well. "Koenig added."
  The Falcons shot 39 percent as a team in the defeat. They shot 38 percent (14-37) from the 3-point line.  They shot just 59 percent (17-29) from the free throw line. The Falcons had 12 assists and nine turnovers.
  Jon Dunmyer had 19 points to lead the Pioneers.  Darhius Nunn netted 15- and- Elisha Mayberry added 13 for Glenville State.  They shot 46 percent as a team and 40 percent (10-25) from the 3-point line.  The Pioneers shot 75 percent at the free throw line (12-16.)  They won the rebounding battle 43-37.  The Pioneers had 16 assists and eight turnovers.
   The game started off close as the Pioneers would lead 9-7 at the first media time out.  After a Cole Hayes dunk after a break away at the 11:09 mark of the opening half we were tied at 13.  After a 4-point play by Taylor and another Hayes basket the Falcons led 20-15 at the 7:57 mark of the first half.  It would be 37-33 in favor of the Pioneers at the half.
 Cole Hayes led NDC with seven points in the opening half. Taylor added six- and- Megins added five. The Falcons only shot 36 percent from the field- and- 29 percent (5-17) from the 3-point line in the first 20 minutes. They shot 67 percent (6-9) from the free throw line.
  Dwayne Chastain led the Pioneers with eight in the opening stanza. Jon Dunmyer and Darhius Nunn added seven each. They shot 42 percent as a team in the opening half. This included 38 percent (6-16) from the 3-point line.  They won the rebounding battle 23-18 in the first 20 minutes.
  The Falcons would get to within one (41-40) just over two minutes into the half. At the 13:47 mark the Pioneers led by 14 (57-43.)  At the 5:24 mark it would be 71-60 in favor of the Pioneers. After a pair of Angelo Cugini free throws at the 1:44 mark the Falcons were within two (75-73.) Andrew Johnson would nail a big 3-pointer at the 1:19 mark to stretch the lead to five. The Falcons would get to within one on a pair of trips, the last being after a Megins basket with 25 seconds to go.  Mayberry would hit two free throws with 18 seconds and the Falcons would have one last gasp. Koenig talked about what they drew up:
" We had a side ball screen with KT on top and Angelo on the back side to clean up any misses. HP did not attack as hard as we would have liked him to. We dribbled the ball to much in that possession. That being said Ollie had a clean look at a 3-pointer and chose to shot fake, he did get a look at a 3 all be it highly contested. " Koenig said."
 The shot did not fall and the Falcons rally fell short.
Scarberry spoke about the fight in this group:
" I am very proud of the way we pulled together and battled back in the second half after a tough start in the first half.  We got out-hustled in the 50-50 balls and couldn't get some free throws to drop but that happens. We just have to stay the course, trust ourselves and come back Saturday ready to get a win. " Scarberry said."
  Koenig talked about the difference in the game:
"The difference in this one was they made free throws and layups. We missed some key free throws and layups" Koenig said."
  Koenig did see some improvement over some parts of the first half of the season though:
" We made the extra pass better. We kept the ball out of the paint better. It was a hell of an effort tonight. We just fell short. " Koenig said."
  Taylor spoke about what needs to improve for the Falcons to break this losing slide:
" We need to have better help defense because that will prevent more fouls from happening. We need to finish defensive possessions with rebounds, and we can't be one and done on offense. "Taylor mentioned."
  NDC will be back in action Saturday when they continue the West Virginia road swing with a game against West Virginia Wesleyan. Tip time is set for 4 PM and you can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com