This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball travels to Athens, W.Va. for a matchup with Concord University on Jan. 26. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Falcons come home to face Glenville State College at 4 p.m. on Jan. 29.
Spectator Reminder: No spectators will be allowed to enter Murphy Gymnasium on Saturday.
Records: Notre Dame has an overall record of 10-8 and they hold a 7-5 MEC mark. Concord enters the week with a 7-10 record and the Mountain Lions are 5-7 in the MEC. Glenville State holds a 6-9 record and they are 3-8 in MEC play.
Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in his third season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 27-37 and has gone 22-28 in conference play. Todd May enters his sixth season as head coach of Concord. He has a 76-73 overall record and has gone 55-62 in the MEC. Justin Caldwell is in his fourth season as head coach with Glenville State and has a 40-45 record (28-38 MEC).
Rankings: None of the teams are receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll.
Series History: NDC is 10-8 against Concord since the 2013-14 season and the Falcons are 8-9 all-time against Glenville State.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame went 1-1 last week, defeating Wheeling 82-64 at home and then fell 71-70 on the road against Alderson Broaddus. Against Wheeling, Notre Dame had three players reach double-digit scoring with
Jaedon Willis leading the way with 28 points on 53-percent shooting,
Michael Sampson putting up a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and
Tyland Crawford scoring 10 points. Against AB, Willis scored 21 and Crawford had 17.
Jaedon Willis is third in the MEC with 21.6 points per contest. He leads the conference in three pointers made per game at 3.4 and he ranks second in three-point percentage at 38.1-percent. In national rankings, Willis is fifth in Division II in total points (388), eighth in total three pointers made (61), 15th in three pointers made per game and 18th in points per game.
Michael Sampson ranks third in the MEC with 8.6 rebounds per game and 2.4 offensive rebounds. He is 18th in the country in total rebounds (154).
This season, the Falcons rank fourth in the MEC in defense, allowing just 77.9 points per game and they are tied for fifth in field goal percentage at 46.4-percent. NDC has taken the top spot in the MEC in three-point shooting at 38-percent. Notre Dame is fourth in turnover margin, sitting at plus-1.17 each game and the Falcons are fourth in assist/turnover margin at 1.13. The Falcons are fourth in the conference with 15.33 assists per game.
Noting the Mountain Lions: Concord lost by 28 points (99-71) against Charleston on Wednesday before beating Glenville State in a close 86-82 home victory. Against Charleston, Concord shot 55-percent in first half and led 42-41 after 20 minutes. But, the Mountain Lions were held to just 29-percent shooting from the field and scored 29 points in the second half. Lual Rahama led the team with 20 points against UC. Concord shot 55-percent, overall, and 56-percent from three in their win over Glenville State. Jevon Laidler (25) and Matt Weir (22) both scored over 20 points.
Matt Weir is Concord's leading scorer with 15.8 per game and he leads the MEC by shooting 42.1-percent from long range. Matt Weir is third in the MEC in assists per game (4.8) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.1). Lual Rahama is ninth in the MEC with 6.8 rebounds per game. Da'Vion Moore is second in the MEC with 1.4 blocked shots per game.
Concord holds teams to a 45.8-percent shooting percentage, which is tied for fourth in the conference. CU ranks third by keeping teams to a 31.3-percent shooting mark from behind the three-point arc. On the offensive side, they also rank third by making 10.1 threes per game. Concord pulls down 36.9 rebounds per contest, which is fifth best in the MEC.
Noting the Pioneers: Glenville State has struggled to start the second half of the season. Since the start of January, the Pioneers have gone 1-5 in MEC play. Last week, they lost to West Virginia State (88-79) and Concord (86-82). John Williams led the team in scoring both games, putting up 23 against WVSU and 26 against Concord. The Pioneers have had an up and down season. They have defeated teams in the top half of the conference in Fairmont State and NDC, but have losses against Frostburg State, Wheeling and West Virginia Wesleyan.
John Williams leads the conference in scoring, by over two points per game, with 24.1 points. He also ranks fourth in NCAA Division II in points per game. John Williams is fourth in the MEC with 1.2 blocks per game and 8.5 boards per game. Adrian Scarborough is first in the league, and third in the country, in field goal percentage at 70.3 percent. He also ranks second in D2 with 4.43 offensive rebounds per game, along with hauling in an average of 8.3 total rebounds each night. Nick Edwards leads the conference by dishing out 8.2 assists and leads the way in steals at 2.7 per game. Edwards is second in the league with a 2.9 assist/turnover ratio.
Glenville State is averaging 91 points scored, which is second in the conference and fifth in Division II. However, they are last in the MEC by allowing 91 points per game. The Pioneers are tied with the Falcons for fifth in the MEC by shooting 46.4-percent from the floor and they are fifth in three-point percentage at 36-percent. The Pioneers lead the way in the MEC, and the country, by making an average of 12.8 triples per game. GSC is third in the conference by bringing in 37.7 boards per contest and they are first in the MEC, and fifth in the country, in offensive rebounding average with 14.8. Glenville State is currently second in the MEC with a 1.33 assist/turnover ratio and they rank in the top five in assists per game with 17.47 and steals per game with 7.47.
