This week: Notre Dame College men's basketball re-enters conference play on January 8 when they battle Frostburg State University, at Allegany College of Maryland. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. After a quick road trip, the Falcons come back home to play Fairmont State University on January 11, at 4 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame enters the week with a 3-9 record and a 1-5 MEC mark. Frostburg State is currently 5-7 (2-4 MEC), while Fairmont State holds a record of 9-2 (4-2 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his first season as head coach at Notre Dame. Sean Brown enters his second season at Frostburg State and currently holds a record of 15-23. Tim Koenig is also in his first season at the helm of the Fairmont State program after leading NDC for the past six seasons.

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the NABC poll.

Series History: Notre Dame holds a record of 3-12 against Fairmont State since the Mountain East Conference began play in 2013. The Falcons were able to defeat Fairmont State once in the regular season and again in the MEC Tournament, last season. NDC has never played Frostburg State.

Noting the NDC Falcons: Following a couple non-conference games around the holidays, Notre Dame is now entrenched in the heart of the MEC schedule. They will play 16 games over eight weeks, from January 8 until February 29, leading up to the MEC Tournament. The Falcons put together what might have been their most complete game of the year when they defeated Salem University, 80-67, on January 5. Leading by just one point at halftime, the Falcons went on a 16-2 run in the first six minutes of the second half, pushing their lead to 15 points. Drew Scarberry gave NDC 21 points and eight rebounds. Scarberry has now scored over 20 points in each of his last four games after posting 11 points, or less, in his first five games. Scarberry has also totaled 15 three pointers over the last three games after connecting on a total of nine attempts through the first six games he played. Deanthony Owens gave the Falcons 18 points in the win and knocked down a season-high eight free throws. Daniel Lott made three 3-pointers, which is his career-high at NDC. As a team, in the win over Salem, the Falcons outrebounded the Tigers 48-31 and limited them to 37-percent shooting, including a 13-for-41 mark from long range. This season, Levi Frankland still leads the team with 18 points per game and is shooting 52-percent from the field and 44-percent from three. Notre Dame is tied for third in the conference with 26.1 defensive rebounds per game and they are ranked fourth with 449 total boards. The NDC Falcons rank fourth in the league with a 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Noting the Bobcats: Frostburg State started the campaign with a 2-7 record which included a three-game losing slide from December 4 through December 11. During that losing streak, FSU lost by an average of 24.3 points. However, the Bobcats are currently on a three-game win streak, their longest of the season. Their latest win came on January 4, in a 96-64 pummeling of Cheyney University. The Bobcats jumped out to a 44-24 halftime lead with Daniel Alexander scoring 19 first half points. He finished the game with 36 points, shooting 12-of-14 from the field and 9-of-13 at the free throw line, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. That performance led to an MEC Player of the Week award. Alexander averages 22 points per game, ranking second in the MEC, while nobody else on the team is averaging more than 10 points. He also leads the team in rebounding average (7.9) and assists (3.7). A bright spot for the Bobcats is their defense. Frostburg State has 55 blocks on the season, which ranks second in the conference. Six players have recorded at least five blocks. The Bobcats rank first in the conference, holding opponents to a 42.6 shooting percentage, on average. They also rank first with 29 defensive rebounds per game as well as 513 total rebounds.

Noting the FSU Fighting Falcons: Fairmont State has seen a bit of everything this season. They have won three games by double-digits, they have won four games by five points, or less, and they fell to a Davis & Elkins team who is currently sitting at 2-4 in conference play with a 4-8 overall record. Their latest win came against Carlow University. The 123-48 victory allowed a lot of players to get involved with 12 finding time on the court and eight players scoring in double-digits. Steven Solomon recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while starter Dale Bonner had a 10-point, 10-assist double-double. Fairmont State scored 71 bench points and grabbed 58 rebounds while their defense held Carlow to 27-percent shooting. This season, Dale Bonner and Cole VonHandorf are both averaging 19 points per game while Bonner also dishes out 6.1 assists per game, which is at the top of the MEC. VonHandorf shoots nearly 50-percent from the field. Kenzie Melko-Marshall is third on the team with 15.4 points per game. The FSU Falcons rank 19^th in Division II with 89.2 points per game. Just like Frostburg State, Fairmont does a good job limiting opponents on offense as they hold teams to a 43.8 field goal percentage, which is tied for second lowest in the MEC. Fairmont State ranks third in the MEC with a 1.38 assist-to-turnover ratio.