WHEELING, W.Va. – The basketball conference tournament can bring about many emotions. On Wednesday, Notre Dame College put together a comeback to defeat Wheeling University, in overtime of the First Round. And on Friday evening, the Falcons ran into No. 12 University of Charleston in the Mountain East Conference Quarterfinals, falling by a score of 75-58.
 
For the third consecutive season, Notre Dame secured a winning record, finishing the 2023-24 campaign with 15 wins and 14 losses.
 
The Falcons started Friday's game slow on the offensive end, but senior Trent Williams and sophomore Devin Haid got the Falcons on the board, as they had many times this season. Off of a Charleston turnover, Williams got to the basket for a layup and then about two minutes later, Haid stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast for another field goal. NDC cut the deficit to five points, 9-4, with 14:38 on the first half clock.
 
Charleston pushed its lead all the way to 12 points, but Notre Dame put together another short run, just under the 10-minute mark. Trailing 20-10, Haid got to the hoop for a layup on one possession and then knocked down a three on the next, to pull NDC back within five points.
 
Haid finished the first half with nine points to lead the Falcons.
 
After 20 minutes of play, UC led Notre Dame by a score of 32-20. Neither team shot the 3-ball well, but the Golden Eagles made five more field goals than the Falcons.
 
On the first possession of the second half, the Falcons grabbed two offensive rebounds and on the third chance, junior Andre Harris put the ball through the hoop.
 
Haid and Williams, again, started to move the momentum back toward NDC. Haid drew contact, got fouled and made both free throws. After a missed three by Charleston, he knocked down another shot. Williams then connected on back-to-back triples, with Haid getting the assist on both shots. Haid scored or assisted on 12 consecutive points, between the 17:23-mark and the 14:10-mark of the second stanza.
 
The two 3-pointers by Williams were the beginning of an 11-5 run by NDC. Haid knocked down a mid-range jumper and junior Gbolahan Adio hit a three, with an assist from Harris. With 12:14 remaining in the game, Notre Dame trailed by just 11 points, 49-38.
 
But, the Golden Eagles had an answer. NDC kept the gap to 12 points for the next three minutes before Charleston went on an 8-1 run and led by 19, 64-45, with 6:26 on the clock.
 
Notre Dame never went away, as junior Joshua Dames grabbed an offensive board and tossed the ball to a cutting Haid for a layup. And after Dames stole the ball from Charleston, junior Jamarr Talbert Jr. hit a three to bring Notre Dame within 13 points, 66-53, with only 4:25 to go.
 
An offensive rebound and put-back layup by sophomore Jevontae Jones closed the gap to 13, one more time, but that would be as close as NDC would get.
 
Haid connected on five field goals in the second half, for 12 points. He finished the game with 21, his ninth game with 20, or more, points this season. He ended the season in the top 10 in the conference in scoring average.
 
Andre Harris scored 10 points for NDC. As a team, the Falcons had 16 points off turnovers, to Charleston's nine.

"I never questioned our effort throughout the season," said head coach Mark Richmond. "There were some games where we did dig ourselves a hole and we were able to come back and fix that. There were a lot of distractions throughout the season, but we always fought and I thought we were playing really well by the end of the season."