The Mountain East Conference men's basketball tournament's 2016 edition got its first major upset Friday.
Kyauta Taylor made two foul shots with 6.5 seconds to play as sixth-seeded Notre Dame College knocked off third-seeded Fairmont State 79-78 in the MEC quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center.
The win was the first in NDC history against Fairmont State and puts the Falcons from Ohio into Saturday's semifinal round at 8:15 p.m. against No. 2 seed Wheeling Jesuit.
"Fairmont State, they're good enough to win the national title," Notre Dame coach Tim Koenig said. "They're one heck of a team and I almost said a bad word there but you know how good they are."
Notre Dame (20-10) led the majority of the game and was up by as many as 12 early in the second half before Fairmont State (25-4) rallied back into contention. FSU went ahead 76-75 with 1:16 to play for its first lead since being up 5-4 early in the first half but could not put any distance between itself and Notre Dame.
"It's a little disappointing," Fairmont State coach Jarrod Calhoun said. "We didn't go as hard leading up to this tournament. We've had some guys banged up, but we let a great opportunity pass us up. Really disappointed for the fans in Fairmont."
FSU led 78-77 with less than 20 seconds to play but without possession. NDC attacked the basket out of a timeout unsuccessfully, but in what was one the game's themes, the Falcons hit the glass hard and came up with multiple looks at a potential-game winner before Taylor was fouled and made both of his free throws to put his team ahead for good.
Will Vorhees led NDC with 21 points and added eight rebounds. Tyree Gaiter and Taylor - who also chipped in with nine rebounds - each finished with 20 points while Ja'Sean Lewis led the team with 18 rebounds.
Koenig said his team's ability to not be bothered by Fairmont State's pressure put Notre Dame in a position to pull off the upset.
"These guys sitting to the right [Vorhees] and left [Gaiter] of me led the way but this was a big-time group effort," he said. "We've played Bowling Green this year in an exhibition game, we've played Cleveland State in a scrimmage and obviously you know West Liberty presses. [Fairmont State] is the only team that has bothered us with the press where we've turned the ball over. That's how good their press is. That obviously is a main focus for us coming in - taking care of the ball and taking great shots. Then the rebounding game was huge for us."
Matt Bingaya led Fairmont State with 20 points while three others - Thomas Wimbush (14), Jason Jolly (11) and Jamel Moris (10) - scored in double-figures in the loss.