Hot Shooting Falcons Fall Short At Shepherd.

For coach Tim Koenig and the Notre Dame College Falcons offense has not been the problem much of this season. Once again that held true Thursday night as the Falcons shot 55 percent from the floor- 56 percent from the 3-point line- and- still fell 107-90 to the Shepherd Rams at Butcher Center.
Koenig talked about the game:
" We shot the ball well. We just need to get better on the defensive end. We need to defend better in the half court- defend better in the paint- defend better on the perimeter- and- defend better in transition. They got what they wanted in the half court- made some 3-pointer's in transition and that was the difference in the game." Koenig said.
  Drew Scarberry knocked down seven 3-pointer's to pace the Falcons (5-16 3-12 MEC) with 28 points- Angelo Cugini scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds- Kyauta Taylor scored 16 points- dished out six assists- and had three steals- and- Oliver Megins added 12 points- eight rebounds- and- five assists in the losing effort.
Koenig talked about the effort from Megins and Cugini in the post:
"Angelo and Ollie were very active tonight. They did a good job of being physical. They worked their tails off to keep AJ Carr and Winston Burgess off the boards tonight. " Koenig said."
  Drew Scarberry agreed with Koenig:
" We had a great offensive outing. We have to get more consistent on the defensive end. Plain and simple we need to play better and harder all the time." Scarberry mentioned."
  The Falcons shot 55 percent from the field- 56 percent (19-34) from the 3-point line- and- 50 percent (5-10) at the free throw line.  The Falcons had 19 assists and 10 turnovers as a team.
  Shepherd (13-8 9-6 MEC) was led by Thomas Lang who recorded a double-double with 27 points and 10 assists.  Steffen Davis knocked down six 3-pointer's on his way to 22 points- AJ Carr netted 16- Cam Stephens scored 12- and- Winston Burgess added 11 to go along with 11 rebounds.
 The Rams shot 59 percent as a team- 53 percent (19-36) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (16-20) from the free throw line.  The Rams edged NDC on the glass 33-25. They had 25 assists and eight turnovers.
  Shepherd held a 12-11 lead at the first media timeout.  Jack Kelsheimer would knock down a 3-pointer for NDC that would tie the game at 14 exactly seven minutes in.  Shepherd would then go on a 14-3 run that would give them a 28-17 lead after a Devin Smith 3-pointer at the 9:40 mark of the half. A 3-pointer by Lang right before the half would give the Rams a 52-40 lead at the intermission.
  NDC would come out hot in the second half. After a Megins 3-pointer at the 15:15 mark NDC got within four (60-56.)
Koenig talked about how they cut into the lead:
"We talked about it at the under 15 media, we got three stops in a row. They missed a contested step-back jumper and we were right back in the game." Koenig said."
  Shepherd would then go on a 9-0 spurt to go up 13.  The lead would stay in double digits until a Scarberry 3-pointer at the 1:47 mark cut it to 95-87.  Davis would knock down a 3-pointer and Shepherd would cruise to victory from there.
Koenig on what the team talked about in the timeouts:
 " We kept talking about active hands.  We talked about blocking out and executing better on every possession (especially on defense.)  We talked about these things at every timeout. I need to coach better. The players need to play better. We will get over this hump." Koenig said."
  The Falcons will be back in action Saturday when they battle Fairmont State. Tip time is set for 4 PM and you can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores:
West Virginia Wesleyan 70 Charleston 67
Fairmont State 93 Urbana 79
Wheeling Jesuit 94 Concord 56
Glenville State 92 West Virginia State 79
West Liberty 102 Virginia Wise 67
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 14-1 (19-1)
Wheeling Jesuit 12-3 (17-4)
Fairmont State 12-3 (16-5)
West Virginia State 10-5 (12-8)
Shepherd 9-6 (13-8)
Charleston 8-7 (12-9)
Concord 7-8 (11-10)
Virginia Wise 6-9 (8-13)
West Virginia Wesleyan 4-11 (4-17)
NDC 3-12 (5-16)
Glenville State 3-12 (4-16)
Urbana 2-13 (3-17)