That One Hurts. Cold Shooting Falcons Fall to GSU Thursday.

The Notre Dame College Falcons had a big one Thursday night and picked the wrong night to not shoot the ball well. NDC shot 33 percent from the field- and 20 percent (8-41) from the 3-point line in a 85-64 loss.  With the loss NDC falls to 5-18 and 3-14 in the MEC. With the victory GSU improves to 6-17 and 4-13 in the MEC. The Pioneers also gained the season sweep which would give them the tiebreaker would the two teams tie for the 10th best record in the conference and a trip to Charleston for the conference tournament.
   Three Pioneers players scored in double figures in this one.  Theo Brown led the way with 17 points- Darhius Nunn added 13- and- Brooks Elly added 12.  Glenville shot 54 percent from the field- and- 35 percent (7-20) from the 3-point line.  They won the rebounding battle 43-33.   They shot 82 percent (18-22) at the free throw line.  GSC had 18 assists and 11 turnovers.
  NDC shot 33 percent from the field- 20 percent from the 3-point line- and- 71 percent (10-14) at the free throw line.  They had 12 assists and 10 turnovers. Individually Angelo Cugini and Cole Hayes each netted 16 points- while Drew Scarberry added 10.  Cugini led the team with a team high nine rebounds.
  NDC would come out energized and Kyauta Taylor would get the Falcons on the board first.  After a few lead changes the game would be knotted at 9 at the first media timeout.  NDC would score the next four points after a Taylor free throw and a Hayes 3-pointer.  The Pioneers would counter by scoring the next five points.  After Taylor scored to give NDC a 15-14 lead with just over 13 minutes to go the Pioneers would go on a  9-0 spurt to make it 23-15.  The Pioneers would stretch the lead to 12 (32-20) after a Andrew Johnson 3-pointer at the 7:27 mark of the half.  After NDC briefly got the lead into single digits the Pioneers would take a 11 point lead(40-29) into the locker room.
  Nunn and Jon Dunnmyer had eight each to lead the Pioneers in the opening 20 minutes.  They shot 62 percent as a team and 50 percent (5-10) from the 3-point line.  Also GSC shot at a 75 percent clip (3-4) from the free throw line.  They won the rebounding battle 20-16 in the first half. They also had nine assists and eight turnovers.
  The Falcons were led by Hayes with eight points- while Taylor and Cugini each had seven.  NDC was a frigid 26 percent from the floor and 13 percent (3-23) from the 3-point line.  They shot 80 percent (8-10) at the free throw line.  The Falcons had five assists and five turnovers.
  The second half began with NDC getting a jumper by Hayes to get within single digits (40-31.)  Scarberry would score after a basket by GSC and the lead would stay at nine (42-33.)  Halfway thru the half Glenville would stretch the lead to 15 (62-47.)  NDC would not getting any closer than 14 the rest of the way as the Pioneers sealed the victory.
  Tim Koenig spoke about the defensive effort tonight:
"We played a lot better on defense tonight. We defended the paint better. " Koenig said. "
As for the offensive end:
" We missed shots tonight and our shot selection could have been better.  It is tough to win when you don't put the ball in the hole." Koenig added."
  NDC will be back in action Saturday when they host West Virginia Wesleyan. Tip time is set for 4 PM at Murphy Gym. You can catch all the action on NotreDameFalcons.com
Other MEC Scores:
West Liberty 110 West Virginia State 87
Wheeling Jesuit 75 Charleston 69
Virginia Wise 90 Fairmont State 82
Concord 76 Shepherd 70
West Virginia Wesleyan 70 Urbana 65
MEC Standings:
West Liberty 16-1 (21-1)
Wheeling Jesuit 13-4 (18-5)
Fairmont State 13-4 (17-6)
Shepherd 10-7 (14-9)
West Virginia State 10-7 (12-10)
Charleston 9-8 (13-10)
Concord 8-9 (12-11)
Virginia Wise 8-9 (10-13)
West Virginia Wesleyan 6-11 (6-17)
Glenville State 4-13 (6-17)
NDC 3-14 (5-18)
Urbana 2-15 (3-20)