WHEELING, W.Va – After Friday's win over West Virginia State, head coach Tim Koenig said, "Anytime you can win in the tournament, it's a big time win." And on Sunday, a win meant grabbing the first Mountain East Conference Tournament Title in program history. Notre Dame College did just that, taking down West Liberty University, the No. 5 team in the nation, by a score of 100-96.

The Falcons and Hilltoppers exchanged baskets, early. Neither team pushed the lead past five points through the first ten minutes of play. In that time, the game had two lead changes and two ties.

The first big run of the game was in favor of West Liberty. NDC increased their lead to five points following a Will Vorhees offensive board and put-back layup. On their next possession, West Liberty began their 9-0 run with a layup by Eric Meininger.

Yahel Hill then knocked down a jumper and a three pointer and Marlon Moore Jr. made a layup to put WLU on top, 29-25. During the West Liberty run, Notre Dame missed two threes and turned the ball over twice. Most of the time, making mistakes like that would allow West Liberty to bury their opponent, but the Falcons blocked out the noise and stayed focused.

"I'm proud of how well the guys locked in possession to possession," Koenig said.

And the Falcons did just that. Redshirt-junior Drew Scarberry responded by knocking down a three point shot with 8:10 to go before halftime.

"Day in and day out we practiced, all season," Scarberry mentioned. "This is what it's for. We battle in practice and this is what is all for. This was pretty much a home game for West Liberty. We had a few parents and students and our team. We know, with the guys we have, we can go anywhere and compete. We believe in ourselves."

The Falcons continued their run, after a foul gave them the ball again. Junior Larenz Thurman hit a three, to give the Falcons a 31-29 lead. Three point shooting was a bright spot again for the Falcons in this game, as it was against Fairmont State. As a team, NDC shot 35-for-76 (.461) from three over the course of the tournament, which is a new MEC Tournament record.

Between the 7:11-mark and the 4:33-mark, the Falcons and Hilltoppers combined for six lead changes. NDC grabbed a one point lead and they held the lead through the final four and-a-half minutes of the half. They led 51-46 at the break.

The Falcons' 51 point total in the first half is the most in an MEC Championship game. Vorhees scored 14 points and hauled in nine rebounds. Thurman added 16 points and four assists. Notre Dame was leading the rebounding battle by 10 (24-14). They also had 10 second chance points in the first 20 minutes, while West Liberty had zero and that's just what the Falcons wanted.

"They're so good, they're going to make shots," Koenig stated. "We talked about transition, we talked about rebounding the ball. They're so good, they can only get one (chance). If they get more than one, you can't play that way against those guys."

Notre Dame had a five point lead early in the second half, but once again, it vanished. Hill's sixth three pointer of the game started a 9-4 run. In just over a minute, the Hilltoppers' third consecutive three pointer tied the game at 61 with 15:48 remaining.

But the rollercoaster went up another hill, as the Falcons bounced back with an 8-0 run. Vorhees knocked down a three and after a turnover, junior Bruce Hodges III hit a jumper. And to cap the run, Halil Parks put down a three pointer, giving NDC a 69-61 lead.

Parks was not afraid to shoot the ball when given the opportunity, as he shot 8-for-10 from three over the course of the tournament, which is a new MEC Tournament record for three point percentage.

"Halil is such a lift off the bench," Koenig said. "To break a record, that's big time. But he really helped us on defense too, we're putting him on the other team's best or second best option. I'm so happy for him. He went through a tough stretch during the season, but he kept working and kept working. I'm proud that he stuck with it mentally, and his time came."

"It feels good, I didn't know that I broke the record," Parks mentioned. "It feels good that my teammates believed in me. That's a big reason why I was hitting those shots. They just kept encouraging me throughout the whole tournament to shoot."

MEC Player of the Year, Vorhees was driving and dishing the ball to his teammates for shots, including a three pointer by Parks with 8:19 remaining, pushing the lead to seven points. About a minute later, he sent a pass to Hodges which resulted in a jumper giving NDC an eight point lead. Vorhees' eight assists is tied for most in an MEC Championship game.

"Will is such an unselfish player on and off the court and he's grown so much," Koenig said. "There is so much trust across our team. You saw that ball was moving and guys really played to their strengths. Will made the right decisions and with Larenz hurt, we played more through Will as a decision maker."

The injury to Thurman happened with about five minutes to go, and he came out of the game. He would return a couple times later, but was limping.

"I rolled my ankle, nothing too serious," Thurman said. "I just had confidence in my guys to bring it home. Coach asked if I could go, I gave it a shot, but it didn't really work out. Ankle feels a little weak, but other than that, I'll be ready go."

And the game was anything but over. West Liberty took their first lead of the second half after a 9-2 run put the Hilltoppers up, 91-90, with under three minutes remaining.

Both teams then traded misses before Vorhees, once again, found Hodges cutting. Hodges made the layup, putting the ball off the glass, around the taller defenders. Hodges had a season-high 22 points on Sunday, and had three straight games of double-digit scoring in the tournament, which was the longest streak of the season.

"I knew that I had to come to play if we wanted to win," Hodges said. "I had a lot of games that I didn't score many points, but we got the win. The way the cards fell, I had to score the basketball and I like scoring, like everyone else. Yesterday they sagged off, but today they didn't sag off so I got to cut a lot more and Will and Larenz found me. I'll do what I got to do to win."

Notre Dame did not surrender the lead, again. However, with the Falcons up just two points, Vorhees was the player who knocked down two free throws to close out the game.

"That's my favorite accomplishment out of all of them that I have. I'm at a loss for words," Vohees said. "We knew we could do it, but you can't predict this feeling. It's the best feeling in the world."

The fans wearing blue started to chant "N-D-C" after the final horn sounded and the players piled onto each other.

"It was a dream, it was a goal," Koenig said. "We've talked about it, that we've never gone to the National Tournament. We never won a conference out-right in the history of the program. We've shared titles when we were in NAIA. I'm just so happy and proud of these guys. Not just these guys, but I've gotten texts from former players, former coaches. I just want to thank all of them for how happy and how proud they are of this team. And then you can't say enough about these guys, that whole group. It's unbelievable. It's such a great feeling to cut down the nets and live to play another day."

The win is the program's first against West Liberty since the 2013-14 season. And with this victory, the Falcons are guaranteed a spot in the NCAA-II Tournament.

"We took it out of anybody's hands, we didn't want to leave it up to anyone," Vorhees explained. "We knew what we had to do to get there. It was hard but we played with a refuse to lose attitude. You see the results."

Vorhees, Thurman and Hodges were named to the All-Tournament team and Vorhees was named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

Vorhees, who had 15 second half points, ended the game with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Thurman added 17 points and five assists. Parks had 16 points, off the bench. The Falcons held West Liberty to a season-low in offensive, defensive and total rebounds and they outrebounded WLU by 16 (41-25). NDC also set a record for best free throw shooting (85.7%) in an MEC Championship game.

WLU's Yahel Hill scored 35 points and he knocked down a new tournament record, seven threes. The Hilltoppers only had three players score in double-digits, but still shot 54-percent and 49-percent from three.

The Falcons will play No. 13 Virginia State University in the NCAA Division II Tournament, which begins on March 16 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The time is to be determined.