This Week: After a close 85-80 loss to Concord University, early in the season, Notre Dame College men's basketball hosts the Mountain Lions, on Jan. 25, with a tipoff time of 7:30 p.m. This weekend, NDC will travel to Glenville State University for a 4 p.m. start, on Jan. 28. Next Monday, Jan. 30, the Falcons will play a non-conference game at home against Penn State Fayette, at 6 p.m.
 
Records: NDC has an overall record of 10-7, while going 7-5 in Mountain East Conference play, after winning twice last week. Concord enters the week with a record of 10-7, overall, and 7-5 against the MEC. Glenville State is currently one game ahead of NDC in the MEC standings with a conference record of 8-4 and the Pioneers have an overall record of 12-6. PSU Fayette sits at 9-10 on the year.
 
Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Falcons. He has an overall record of 42-50 and his teams have gone 34-40 against the rest of the MEC. Todd May is now in his seventh campaign on the sideline with Concord and has a record of 93-88 (68-71 MEC). Justin Caldwell enters his fifth year with Glenville State and has a record of 58-58 (41-48 MEC). Andy Hendrick is in his second season with Penn State Fayette. He has a mark of 19-26. 

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll.

Series History: NDC and Concord usually have close battles when they matchup, and since the 2013-14 season, the two teams are 10-10 against each other. The Falcons also have a close all-time series against Glenville State, and currently lead the matchup with a 10-9 mark, after defeating GSU, 77-73, on Nov. 30. Notre Dame has never played Penn State Fayette.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is looking to continue its winning streak. Last week, the Falcons defeated Wheeling (85-81) and Alderson Broaddus (79-61). Jaedon Willis averaged 27.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, four assists and a steal and shot 59-percent from long range over the two games. Against Wheeling, the senior connected on seven 3-pointers, a season-high, and scored 19 points in the second half. Also in the game, DeAirius Barker had a career-high 23 points, after making five shots from the field and going 10-for-10 at the free throw line. Versus AB, Willis led the team with 22 points and all five starters reached double-digit scoring.
 
Notre Dame has been solid at home all season, sitting at 6-2 when playing in the Murphy Gymnasium. But, the Falcons have also turned around their luck on the road. After starting the season 0-4 away from home, NDC has won four of its last five road games.
 
Jaedon Willis is second in the MEC in scoring with 21.7 points per game, which also ranks 15^th in the country. He knocks down threes at a 43.8-percent clip, which is third in the conference, while making 2.9 triples each game. Willis is second in the MEC in free throw percentage at 87.6-percent and ranks eighth in Division II with 106 free throws made. Obinna Ugwuakazi leads the team with 4.5 rebounds per game.
 
On defense, Notre Dame continues to roll this season. The Falcons lead the Mountain East Conference in by holding opponents to a 41.5-percent field goal percentage and a 28.3-percent three-point percentage, while also ranking second in points allowed per game at 75.8. The team's three-point percentage defense is fourth in the country. Offensively, NDC scores 82.1 points each game, ranking in the top five of the conference. The Falcons shoot 37.4-percent from long range and 75.3-percent from the free throw line, which both rank second in the MEC. They bring down an average of 39.2 rebounds, which ranks fifth.
 
Noting the Mountain Lions: Concord had a tough stretch last week, dropping three consecutive contests. CU fell to Salem (84-68), Charleston (93-82) and Glenville State (81-79). Concord led Salem University, 32-30, at halftime but the Tigers outscored CU, 54-36 in the second half. Lual Rahama had 26 points and 16 rebounds in that game for the Mountain Lions. Five Concord players scored in double-digits against Charleston, but the Golden Eagles got out to a fast start and dominated in the first half, leading 49-36 by halftime, while shooting 55-percent. The Mountain Lions led by two at halftime against Glenville, but were outscored by four in the second half. Lual Rahama totaled 23 points and 16 boards against GSU.
 
Lual Rahama is scoring 16.4 points per game, which leads the team. He leads the conference, and ranks seventh in the country, in rebounding with 10.3 per game. Rahama is seventh in the conference in field goal percentage 49.1-percent. The Mountain Lions have two players in the top ten in blocked shots with Jevon Laidler (1.3) tied for third and JJ Harper (1) tied for eighth.
 
Concord has been middle of the road offensively, this season. The Mountain Lions ranks sixth in scoring (81.8), sixth in free throw percentage (70.4), seventh in field goal percentage (45.4) and ninth in three-point percentage (34.3). They do a good job of limiting teams on defense, ranking third by holding teams to a 42.8-percent field goal percentage. Concord is one of the top rebounding teams in the conference, averaging 42.1 total rebounds per game, 13.9 offensive boards and outrebounding teams by 5.9, on average.

Noting the Pioneers: Already this season, Glenville State has matched its overall win total (12) and conference win total (8) from the 2021-22 campaign. For the second time this season, the Pioneers defeated a top-25 team, when they took down No. 13 West Virginia State 91-77, last Wednesday. GSU held W.Va. State to 29 first half points and 28-percent shooting. Freddie Word (22 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) became just the seventh D2 player this season to record a triple-double for the Pioneers and Harrison Eghan (14 points, 14 rebounds) finished with a double-double. Glenville State outrebounded West Virginia State, 54-39. The Pioneers snuck past Concord, over the weekend, 81-79. Freddie Word (21 points, 10 rebound) had another double-double and GSU outrebounded CU, 42-30.
 
Jordan Smith leads the Pioneers in scoring by pouring in 18.4 points per game, but Freddie Word (15.4) and Jacquez Yow (14.4) are also among the top-15 of the MEC. Harrison Eghan and Freddie Word are both averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, which is tied for seventh in the conference. Jordan Smith shoots 37.4-percent from three, which ranks fifth in the MEC, and he makes 2.9 threes each game. Freddie Word and Jacquez Yow both shoot 80-percent from the free throw line, which is top ten in the conference. Jacquez Yow shoots 53.2-percent from the field, ranking sixth in the MEC, while teammate Jordan Smith shoots 49-percent, ranking eighth. Word (5.3) and Smith (4.2) rank second and fourth, respectively, in the MEC in assists. On defense, Yow averages 1.3 blocked shots and Smith averages 2.4 steals per game, ranking in the top three in the conference in both categories.
 
The Pioneers rank fourth in the conference with 88.7 points per game and are outscoring teams by an average of 10.9 points per game. They are fourth-best in the MEC with a field goal percentage of 47.1 and top-five in three-point percentage (36.2). The Pioneers are the top rebounding team in the conference, hauling in 42.1 per game, and are outrebounding teams by an average of 7.7, which leads the league. GSU is in the top four in the MEC in 16.2 assists per game and 8.8 steals per game.
 
Noting the Nittany Lions: PSU Fayette began the year 6-2 in November, but the team has gone 3-8 since, including a six-game losing streak from Dec. 5 to Dec. 22. The Nittany Lions played one game last week, defeating Penn State Du Bois, 76-66. All five starters reached double-digit scoring, including Torian Jenkins who totaled 15 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. Matt Forbes made four 3-pointers and led the team with 16 points.
 
PSU-F has five players averaging double-digit scoring. Dasilas Jones leads the team by averaging 24.4 points per game, while Torian Jenkins scores 14.8 points per game, while shooting 52-percent from the field. Jenkins also leads the team with 12.7 rebounds per game and 3.9 assists per game.
 
This year, Penn State Fayette has a 7-3 home record, but they are 2-7 on the road or at a neutral site. The Nittany Lions average 78.4 points per game, and allow 79.4 on average. The team brings down 33.5 rebounds per game, but are being outrebounded by 6.5, per game.