NDC Suffers Tough Defeat Saturday.

For the third consecutive game the Notre Dame College Falcons were right in it, this time leading by two with 5:04 to go but they would fall 94-84 at the Prior Convocation Center on the campus of Virginia Wise.  The loss dropped the Falcons to 5-21 on the season and made it eight straight defeats. With the victory the Cavaliers improved to 13-13 and 11-9 in the MEC.
  Coach Tim Koenig broke down the final five minutes:
" We did not execute down the stretch at winning time, turned the ball over and they got some big offensive rebounds and made some plays when they needed to.  We did not defend the paint today. I must have said 25 times in the huddles today, we need to defend the paint better. " Koenig said."
  Kyauta Taylor paced the Falcons with 28 points- six rebounds- and- four assists in this one.  Drew Scarberry netted 20- while Angelo Cugini added 14 points and 11 rebounds.  NDC shot 43 percent as a team- as well as 43 percent (16-37) from the 3-point line. The Falcons shot 72 percent (18-25) at the free throw line.  The Falcons had 15 assists and 17 turnovers in the contest.
  The Cavaliers were led by Taiwo Badmus who scored 31 points and secured 14 rebounds on senior day.  Michal Seals added 22- Chance Sheffey scored 14- Yesid Mosquera-Perea added 12- and- Ricardo Hill also scored in double digits with 10.  Wise shot 47 percent from the field- 35 percent (9-26) from the 3-point line- and- 87 percent (27-31) at the free throw line.  The Cavaliers won the rebounding battle 41-34. They also had 16 assists along with just eight turnovers.
   The Cavaliers scored the first four points of the game but NDC would counter with a 9-0 run to lead 9-4 in the early going.  Both teams would shoot the ball well in the early stages of the game and after a Scarberry 3-pointer at the 13:31 mark of the half NDC would have a 21-14 lead.  After a quick 5-0 run by Wise Jack Kelsheimer would drill a 3-pointer for the Falcons that made it 24-18 in favor of NDC.  The Cavaliers would retake the lead 31-29 after a pair of Badmus free throws before NDC scored the next five points.  Oliver Megins hit a pair of 3-pointers for NDC and the Falcons would take a five point lead (42-37) at the half.
  Scarberry led NDC with 11 points in the opening half- Cugini scored eight and grabbed six rebounds- while Cole Hayes- Megins- and- Taylor each scored six.  NDC shot 47 percent as a team- 59 percent (10-17) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (4-5) at the free throw line.  The Falcons had a 19-18 edge on the boards in the opening stanza.  They had 11 assists and nine turnovers.
  The Cavaliers were led by 10 points from Badmus in the opening half.  Mosquerea-Perrea added eight- while Sheffey and Hill scored seven each.  The Cavaliers shot 41 percent in the opening half- 29 percent (5-17) from the 3-point line- and- 67 percent (6-9) from the free throw line.  The Cavaliers had eight assists and six turnovers in the half.
  The second half did not start out well for the Falcons as the Cavaliers tied the game at 43 when Koenig called a timeout at the 18:03 mark.
Koenig talked execution in the huddle:
" We didn't run a couple of our sets to begin the half. We did not execute and take care of the ball at that time either. We had a couple live ball turnovers that led to run outs at the other end. I just told the guys we need to hunker down and defend the paint better." Koenig said."
 Out of the timeout Levi Frankland knocked down a 3-pointer to give NDC the lead back.  Badmus would hit a 3-pointer for Wise at the 14:14 mark that tied the game at 52.  Wise would score the next five points but then back to back 3-pointer's by Taylor would give NDC a 58-57 lead with 10:40 to go.  The game would be tied again this time at 68 with 6:46 to go.  A pair of Cugini free throws at the 5:04 mark would give the Falcons a two point lead (74-72) before DeMarcus Edwards would knock down a 3-pointer off the bench for the Cavaliers. They would not relinquish the lead after that.  NDC would be within three (83-80) after a Taylor 3-pointer at the 2:43 mark but the Cavaliers would seal it by making free throws down the stretch.
  Koenig reflected on this one afterwards:
" I am proud of these guys. They have fought through a lot of adversity this year.  We have played better in the last week at Concord and here at Wise.  We just need to execute better at winning time." Koenig said."
Scarberry spoke of his thoughts after this one:
" We played hard today. We just weren't able to pull through at the end." Scarberry said."
 NDC will return home and face #5 West Liberty at Murphy Gym on Wednesday night. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM. You can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores:
West Liberty 105 Glenville State 66
Fairmont State 94 West Virginia State 81
Wheeling Jesuit 85 West Virginia Wesleyan 66
Concord 63 Urbana 60
Shepherd 75 Charleston 59
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 19-1 (24-1)
Wheeling Jesuit 16-4 (21-5)
Fairmont State 15-5 (19-7)
Shepherd 12-8 (16-10)
Virginia Wise 11-9 (13-13)
Charleston 10-10 (14-12)
Concord 10-10 (14-12)
West Virginia State 10-10 (12-13)
West Virginia Wesleyan 7-13 (7-19)
Glenville State 4-16 (6-20)
Notre Dame 3-17 (5-21)
Urbana 3-17 (4-22)