WHEELING, W.Va. – For the first time since 2019, Notre Dame College will be in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Semifinals. On Friday night, the five seed Falcons pulled off the upset over four seed West Virginia State University, by a score of 92-79. Sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi went off for 22 points and 19 rebounds and all five NDC starters scored in double-digits.

West Virginia State's Samier Kinsler was on fire right after the opening tip, as he quickly went down the floor for a layup and then hit a three to give WVSU a 5-3 lead. However, it did not take long for Notre Dame put out the flames.

Sophomore Jamarr Talbert Jr. was open for a three pointer and knocked it down to get the Falcons on the board and then Ugwuakazi went to work. He grabbed two offensive rebounds before connecting on a layup and then ran down the floor for a fastbreak basket on the next possession. He made two free throws to cap his personal 6-0 run and NDC would never give the lead back.

Ugwuakazi had eight points and nine rebounds in the first half to go along with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the second half. He finished with a career-high 22 points, seven offensive boards and 19 total rebounds in the game. His total rebounding number is tied for third most in an MEC Tournament game and tied for fifth most in a game in NDC program history.

"Coach made it real simple for me in practice, he wanted me to roll to the basket," Ugwuakazi said. "That's what I did today. I set good screens and kept rolling and my teammates found me. With rebounding, I'm going to be tenacious. I want every board."

NDC went on a 19-5 run after West Virginia State took a 5-3 lead. Along with Ugwuakazi's six points, Willis also scored five points during that run. By the 9:23-mark in the first half, Notre Dame had increased its lead to 12 (22-10).

That set the tone for the rest of the night. The Yellow Jackets, who ranked seventh in the country in scoring with 89 points per game, used their offense to get back into the game. A 10-3 run pulled West Virginia State within five points (25-20), with 5:35 remaining before halftime.

"We talked about how it's never over. [West Virginia State] is really explosive and they play fast, so they can get back in it easily," head coach Mark Richmond said.

Over the final five minutes of the first stanza, the Yellow Jackets scored one point. They missed seven shots from the field, in that span, and turned the ball over twice. On the other side of the court, Notre Dame started to gain momentum, again. Willis knocked down a jumper and a three and then graduate student Tyland Crawford hit a tough jumper and was fouled. He would make the free throw. Sophomore Kaleb Torrence stole the ball, for the second time in a 40-second span, and went down the floor for a fastbreak layup, with 2:04 on the clock.

The Falcons held WVSU to 21 points in the first half, the lowest point total since allowing just 18 points in the first half to West Virginia Wesleyan, on Dec. 10. NDC, who scored 38 points in the first half to take a 17-point lead, was led by Willis' 10 points. Notre Dame shot 47-percent from the field and held WVSU to 25-percent shooting, including 10-percent from three.

Notre Dame picked up in the second half, right where they left off in the first. Talbert and Crawford took the first four shots for NDC and made all four. Following Talbert's second three of the half, at the 17:59-mark, Notre Dame's lead expanded to 26 points, 49-23.

Talbert would go 3-for-5 from long range in the final 20 minutes.

The Yellow Jackets put together a 22-10 run in a little over five minutes to cut the deficit to 14 points, 59-45, with 12:44 to go in the game. But, that would be as close as W.Va. State would get in the second half.

Sophomore DeAirius Barker played all 20 minutes for NDC in the second stanza, scoring 11 points and dishing out five assists. He finished the game with seven of Notre Dame's 17 assists.

"I'm really proud of our guys," Richmond said. "I thought we had a balanced effort. Obviously, Obi [Ugwuakazi] made a big impact. I thought Tyland [Crawford] made some big shots, early in the second half to give us a big lead."

Notre Dame finished the night shooting 50-percent from the field and 41-percent from 3-point range. The team had 17 assists, which is tied for fourth most this season. Willis finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists.

"We were sharing the ball early and that was leading to open shots. That was key for us to get some rhythm," Crawford said, who finished with a season-high 19 points.

"We need to be in that 17-20 assist range to be our best. We need that to be balanced," Richmond mentioned.

Tonight's contest was only the sixth time this season that WVSU was held under 80 points. In those games this season, the Yellow Jackets went 2-4.

Notre Dame will return to the floor tomorrow, for a matchup with the top seed, and No. 5 ranked, West Liberty University in the MEC Semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.