This Week: Notre Dame College men's basketball wraps up the regular season with two home games. On Feb. 28, NDC will take on No. 14 ranked West Liberty University with a start time of 7:30 p.m. The Falcons will celebrate Senior Day before taking on Salem University, at 4 p.m. on March 2.

Records: NDC went 1-1 last week and now holds a record of 13-12 on the year, with an MEC record of 8-11. West Liberty took down Glenville State and Concord last week to reach 20 wins in a season, once again. The Hilltoppers are 21-5, with a 15-3 MEC record. Salem dropped a close game against Frostburg State (73-69) on Saturday, for their sixth straight loss, sending its record to 6-20 on the season.

Coaches Corner: Mark Richmond is in year five with the Falcons and has a coaching record of 62-68 (47-54 MEC). Ben Howlett is in his seventh season at West Liberty, with a record of 182-30 (127-17 MEC), while Vincent Thibodeau is in his first year with Salem.

Rankings: West Liberty is ranked 14th in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II top 25 poll. They were one of 10 teams under consideration in the first NCAA Regional Rankings that came out last week.

Series History: West Liberty has won the last five games in the series against Notre Dame. The Falcons have a 3-21 record all-time against WLU. Earlier this season, on Nov. 21, West Liberty was ranked No. 2 in the country and beat the Falcons, 109-84. The last time NDC beat WLU was Nov. 23, 2021, and it was played in the Murphy Gym (82-81). On Jan. 27, 2024, Notre Dame played its first game against Salem since the 2019-20 season. The Falcons got past the Tigers by a score of 86-77, with five players from NDC scoring in double-digits and Joshua Dames totaling 11 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame ran its winning streak to two games, when they took down Frostburg State, 93-76, last Wednesday. Devin Haid scored 26 points, making 10 shots from the field and five three-pointers. RJ Ogom (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Joshua Dames (11, 11) both had double-doubles. The Falcons made 14 three-pointers in the game and shot 46.7-percent from three, which is the second-best mark of the year. On Saturday, Notre Dame hung tight with Fairmont State, but fell by a score of 87-81. Ogom scored 18 points in the first half and finished the game with 25 points, on 7-of-9 shooting. Harris added 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Haid had 16 points. The NDC Falcons led Fairmont, 40-35, at halftime.
 
Devin Haid ranks eighth in the conference by scoring 15.5 points per game, ranks fourth in field goal percentage, at 49.1-percent, and ranks seventh with an 82.7-percent free throw percentage. RJ Ogom is fourth in the conference by shooting 84.6-percent at the free throw line. Andre Harris hauls in seven rebounds per game, which ranks fourth, while Haid brings in 5.5 boards, which ranks 15th in the MEC. Gbolahan Adio leads the squad by dishing out 2.6 assists per game.
 
Notre Dame has moved up to No. 4 in the Mountain East Conference in points per game, with 82.9. They are shooting 45-percent from the field and 35-percent from three, ranking sixth in the MEC in both categories. The Falcons make 9.1 triples per contest, which is fifth-best in the conference. The Falcons are second in the MEC by bringing down 12.9 offensive rebounds per contest and the team is middle of the road in total rebounding average, ranking sixth with 38.8 per game. The Falcons are fifth in assists per game (14.9) and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.04). On the defensive end, NDC is third in blocked shots, with 4.16 per game, and fifth in steals per game, with 7.4.

Noting the Hilltoppers: Since losing back-to-back games to West Virginia State and Charleston, earlier in February, West Liberty has gone on a six-game winning streak. Last week, the Hilltoppers beat Glenville State, 77-73, getting 41 points off the bench as both Chaz Hinds (14 points) and Finley Woodward (13) scored in double-digits. That was only WLU's second game this season scoring under 80 points. At halftime on Saturday, Concord led West Liberty, 46-42. But, the Hilltoppers outscored Concord, 47-30, in the second half to win 89-76. Ten Hilltoppers scored at least six points in the game, as WLU shot 50-percent from the field, as a team. Christian Montague led the team with 12.
 
Christian Montague (11.7 points per game) and Zach Rasile (11.6) lead the Hilltoppers in scoring. John Korte is eighth in the MEC with 6.1 rebounds per game. Korte also ranks ninth in free throw percentage (79.8-percent). Chaz Hinds (2.3 three per game), Zach Rasile (2.3) and Christian Montague (2.1) all rank in the top ten in 3-pointers made per game. Montague (4.3) ranks fourth in the MEC in assists per game, while Alek West (3.7) is sixth. West also has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.5, which leads the conference, while Montague is third at 2.5. Dante Spadafora (1.9 steals per game), Christian Montague (1.7) and West (1.6) are all in the top five in steals per contest.
 
West Liberty leads the conference by scoring 99 points per game and holds a scoring margin of plus-20.1. The Hilltoppers rank third in field goal percentage (47.1-percent), but are seventh in the MEC, shooting 34.8-percent for three. The Hilltoppers still lead the league by making 12.1 three-pointers per contest. WLU shoots 75.6-percent from the free throw line, which is second-best in the MEC. West Liberty leads the league with 14 offensive rebounds per game and they rank fourth in both rebounds per game (39.7) and rebounding margin (plus-3.4). West Liberty leads the MEC in turnover margin, at plus-8.69, assist-to-turnover ratio, at 1.97, assists per game, with 23.19, and steals per game, with 11.65.
 
In the national rankings, Alek West is fifth in Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio. As a team, WLU leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, assists per game and bench points per game (44.88). The Hilltoppers also rank second in scoring margin and three-pointers made per game, while sitting in third in turnover margin and turnovers forced per game (20.46). WLU is fourth in points per game and steals per game, while ranking ninth in both offensive rebounds per game and fastbreak points (17.54).
 
Noting the Tigers: Salem has not won a game since Feb. 3, losing six in a row. Last week, the Tigers lost to Fairmont State, 79-55, and Frostburg State, 73-69. Against Fairmont, Salem led at halftime by a score of 32-30. In the final 20 minutes, the FSU Falcons outscored SU, 49-23. Salem did outrebound Fairmont State, 39-34. Khemanni Davis and Kapone Barley both had 12 points to lead Salem. The Tigers also led at halftime against Frostburg State, 43-37, before the Bobcats outscored Salem, 36-26, in the second half to win the game. Four players scored in double-digits for SU, as the team shot 53-percent from the field. Ashraf Tchadouwa had 15 points, while Barley, Davis and Jack Garrison IV all scored 14.
 
Salem is scoring 70.5 points per game, shooting 42.7-percent from the field and 31.4-percent from three. They have brought down a total of 984 rebounds this season, while opponents have only totaled 963. Ian Hardy leads the team scoring 12.5 points per game, but five players are averaging double-digit points. Kapone Barley (12.2), Jack Garrison IV (12.2), Khemanni Davis (11.2) and Ashraf Tchadouwa (10.4) all average over 10 points per game. Tchadouwa is at the top of the squad, bringing down nine rebounds per game.
 
Opponents are scoring 83.6 points per game, while shooting 44.7-percent from the field.