This Week: D'Youville University travels over from New York to visit Notre Dame College in a non-conference men's basketball matchup, on Dec. 30, at 3 p.m.
Records: NDC has an overall record of 5-5, after picking up a pair of non-conference wins in the D.C. area. The Falcons defeated the University of the District of Columbia and Washington Adventist University, prior to Christmas. D'Youville currently has a mark of 5-7 on the year. The Saints started the season 1-6 before winning four of its last five contests.
Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in year five with the Falcons and has a coaching record of 54-61. Andy Stark is now in year number two with D'Youville. Last season, DU was 4-21.
Rankings: In the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II poll, neither of these teams are in the top 25.
Series History: Notre Dame and D'Youville met for the first time last season, in Buffalo. Back on Dec. 19, 2022, NDC won by a score of 83-57. In that game, Notre Dame shot 46-percent from the field and held DU to 25-percent shooting. The Falcons, who scored 47 points in the second half, were led in scoring by
Jaedon Willis' 21 points, while
Andre Harris (18 points, 13 rebounds) and
Tyland Crawford (12 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) both had double-doubles.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame traveled to play the University of the District of Columbia, on Dec. 16, and Washington Adventist University, on Dec. 18. The Falcons defeated UDC by a score of 88-67, as four players scored in double-digits and
RJ Ogom led the way, off the bench, with 16 points. The Falcons set a season-high by shooting 55.7-percent from the field and finished the game with 22 assists, the second most in a game this season. On defense, NDC held the Firebirds to 39-percent shooting, including just two 3-point baskets.
In a 100-89 win over Washington Adventist, six players scored in double-digits as NDC combined to make 32 field goals. It was the first game that the Falcons have had six players score in double-digits this season and the first time since Jan. 30, 2023.
Davin Zeigler made seven shots, and had a career-day with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. That was his season-high in points and rebounds.
Trent Williams also hit three 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 15 points, all in the second half.
RJ Ogom and
Devin Haid both had 13 points,
Cameron Johnson tied his career-high with 12 and
Gbolahan Adio added 11.
Prior to Dec. 16, Notre Dame had scored 88 points, or more, in just one game this season. After doing that twice in the past two games, NDC is now fourth in the MEC in scoring, with 83.1 points per game. The Falcons are also fifth in team field goal percentage (44.6-percent), fifth in three pointers made per game (8.7), fifth in free throw percentage (73-percent) and third in assists per game (15.8). The Falcons bring down 40.4 rebounds per contest, good for fourth in the conference. Defensively, NDC ranks fourth in opponent field goal percentage (42.3-percent), second in blocked shots per game (5.4) and third in steals per game (7.9).
Individually,
Devin Haid (12.8),
RJ Ogom (12.5) and
Andre Harris (12) are the top three scorers on the team, as five Falcons are now averaging double-digits. Harris brings in 7.7 rebounds per game, which is second-best in the MEC. Haid (93.9-percent) and Ogom (93.2) are still one and two in the conference in free throw percentage.
Devin Haid ranks fourth in the MEC in blocked shots (1.3), is tenth with an average of 2.7 assists per game and tied for tenth with 1.4 steals per game.
Andre Harris ranks sixth in the MEC in blocked shots (1.2) and 10th in steals per game (1.4).
In the national NCAA Division II rankings, the Falcons are fifth in blocks per game (5.7) and 17th in fastbreak points per game (17).
Devin Haid is second in the country in free throw percentage, while
RJ Ogom ranks seventh.
Noting the Saints: D'Youville last played on Dec. 19, defeating Felician University by a score of 94-74. The Saints led by three at halftime, but then put up 56 second half points, on 56-percent shooting from the field. Bryson Birdsong scored 28 points in 26 minutes off the bench, going 9-for-13 from the field, and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He also brought down eight rebounds. Trayton Trice had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Chase Jenkins 17 points and six rebounds. The Saints outrebounded Felician by 24 (51-27).
When DU travels to South Euclid, it will be the Saints' first road game since Dec. 10. They have played their last three games at home.
This season, D'Youville is scoring just 72.9 points per game, while allowing 78.8. They also have struggled shooting the ball, ranking near the bottom of the East Coast Conference, at 40.9-percent from the field. The Saints have seen some improvement behind the three-point arc, as they rank in the top five in the conference by shooting 34.1-percent from three. On the defensive side, they rank third in the ECC by holding teams to a 32.9-percent three-point percentage. The team also ranks fifth in steals per game (7.5).
Chase Jenkins leads the team, and ranks eighth in the conference, by scoring 14.3 points per contest. He also ranks fifth in the ECC in field goal percentage (50.4-percent) and three pointers made per game (2.2). Trayton Trice is at the top of the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. Noah Hutchins has only played seven games, but averages 4.7 assists per game, which is second in the ECC. Bryson Birdsong shoots free throws at 80.6-percent, which is sixth-best in the conference.
D'Youville plays in the East Coast Conference, and will be the second team that Notre Dame has played from the ECC this season, along with the University of the District of Columbia.
