INDIANA, Pa. – Notre Dame College men's basketball checked off a lot of firsts in the 2018-19 season, which came to an end with an 89-81 loss to No. 13 Virginia State Univeristy, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament, on Saturday. However, it was a season that the players, coaches and anyone following the team will not forget anytime soon.

"When our backs are against the wall, we tend to play our best and that's the type of character, the type of guys we have on this team," said head coach Tim Koenig, after the game.

That has been the motto for the team all season. A program that won six games last year, improved their win total by 17 and finished with a 23-9 record. After being on the outside of the National Tournament looking in at the end of the regular season, the Falcons rattled off three wins, including two upsets, to win their first Mountain East Conference Tournament Title and clinch a spot in the first NCAA-II Tournament for the first time.

In the opening round of the tournament on Saturday, Notre Dame and Virginia State struggled to be the first team to put points on the scoreboard. NDC missed their first three shots, while VSU misfired on their first seven shots of the game.

A player for the Trojans entered the game illegally, and after a technical foul was assessed, redshirt-senior Will Vorhees got the Falcons on the board with one free throw.

The Falcons then took off. Sophomore Halil Parks pulled up at the top of the three point arc and buried a three pointer, then junior Bruce Hodges III found freshman Isaiah Sanders under the basket for a layup. Parks made two free throws, Hodges made a layup and Vorhees got fouled and made two more free throws. With 14:35 remaining in the first half, the Falcons led 12-0 and had three steals in the first six minutes action, all of which led to points.

Virginia State did not score for the first 7:08 of the game, and with 10:30 to go, the Trojans were still shooting just 13-percent from the field. NDC led 16-7.

The one glaring missing piece from the Falcons' rotation was MEC First Team member Larenz Thurman. He had been dealing with an ankle injury that he suffered in the conference tournament. Thurman left at the 18:49-mark, giving way to Parks, and did not return.

Beginning at the 11:13-mark, VSU began their first major run of the game. Down 16-5, Virginia State put together a 10-2 run, making the score 18-15, with 8:09 on the clock.

Brandon Holley made his first of three, first half three pointers for the Trojans and their run swelled to 15-6 over five minutes of play. With 6:36 remaining, VSU was down by two points, 22-20. They took their first lead with 4:47 to go, leading 23-22.

At halftime, Notre Dame trailed, 35-30. Vorhees led the Falcons with 13 points. Holley led VSU with nine points.

The Falcons came out of the locker room ready to stun the three seeded Trojans. They scored the first seven points in the second half and had a 10-3 run over the first two and a half minutes. The first four buckets made by Notre Dame were layups, while Vorhees and Hodges each completed their three point plays after being fouled.

"They're a bigger team than us and they were throwing bodies at me," Vorhees mentioned. "It's something that has happened all year, so I'm used to it, but the goal is to make it as tough on me as possible, and they did that. I had to work for it."

Virginia State then took all of the momentum. They stretched the lead to 22 points, 69-47, after Holley knocked down three free throws with 7:51 to go in the game.

The injury bug hit the Falcons, again, as Hodges exited the game with 14:13 remaining. He tried to return once, but could not stay in the game.

"With Larenz and Bruce out, you have to step up, but my goal is to make the right basketball play, like I try to do everyday," Sanders said. "Give Will the ball and we have shooters in Halil (Parks) and Drew (Scarberry)."
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"Bruce (Hodges) and Renz (Thurman) are huge pieces to this team," said Vorhees. "As you see, it's tough to do it without them. Last weekend at the MEC Tournament, we gave everything we had in our bodies to get that accomplished."

In spite of the injuries, the Falcons still had their 'refuse to lose attitude.' After falling behind, 71-50, NDC went on a 31-18 run in the final seven minutes of the game.

Between the 2:22-mark and the 1:52-mark, redshirt-junior Drew Scarberry went on a personal 6-0 run with a three pointer and then three made free throws. That run pulled the Falcons within 11 points.

Notre Dame was able to cut the deficit to six points, 85-79, after Vorhees took a pass from junior Daniel Lott and sunk a three with 31-seconds left. But, that would be as close as the Falcons would get.

"They are a really good team," Koenig stated. "But we battled, we kept battling. A couple guys went down, other guys stepped up and fought. We're really proud of the guys, it was a heck of a run. The guys should be extremely proud. First time in school history we went to the tournament, first time we won our conference. I love these guys so much. A huge thank you to the players, thank you to the administration, thank you to the families, the alumni, the season ticket holders."

Vorhees tied his season-high with 44 points. He also added 10 rebounds and four assists. Vorhees finished the season with 14 games of 30, or more, points and he is now second in Mountain East Conference history with 23 double-doubles in a single-season.

"It's been an amazing ride, more than I could have imagined," said Vorhees. "We fell short today, but there was a lot of history made this season for NDC and I'm just so happy I could be a part of it. There was a time nobody believed in me, except for Coach Koenig and Coach Baab. They instilled confidence in me. They believed in me, and in return, I have given every ounce of energy I have to this program and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat."

The native of Lima, Ohio finishes with the most career points in MEC history and Notre Dame College history, most field goals made in the MEC and at Notre Dame College and the most offensive rebounds in conference and program history.

Vorhees finishes 16th on the NCAA Division II All-Time Scoring list, scoring the most of any DII player in 27 years.

Although, the season came to an end, the Falcons' seniors have a lot of memories to take with them.

"I want to thank the team and our seniors, Daniel Atcheson, Angelo Cugini and Will Vorhees, for being great leaders," said Koenig. "They were able to instill that into our entire program."

"It's been an unbelievable season, doing things that have never been done in the program," Atcheson said. "Just an unbelievable group of guys to be around everyday. I love coming into practice, being with the guys on and off the court. What a senior year, you can't really ask for anything more… Notre Dame is really like a home for me, it's just such a great experience."

"This year began in the offseason, after a tough season," Cugini said. "We became a family early on, even with the six or seven new guys who came in and helped. We became a family and this whole season has been an unbelievable ride. It was something amazing…. Last year was a great learning experience. But this year, capping it off with an MEC Championship with my brothers, you can't get better than that."