LIVONIA, Mich. -- Senior guard Jonathan Cannon hit a buzzer-beater capping off a late comeback for Michigan-Dearborn, as Notre Dame was upset by a Michigan squad for a second straight day, 81-79. (Box)

Two costly NDC turnovers in the final 20 seconds of play sealed the loss to the Wolves, who came into the game as a 10-loss team (UMD is now 3-10). On Friday, the Falcons (7-3) lost to Madonna, 78-72. The two losses in Madonna's State Farm Classic now have Notre Dame tangled in a three-game losing streak.

Junior forward Nicholas Simpson had a key bucket and a steal for Dearborn in the final minute of the game - he finished with a game-high 25. Cannon added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Wolves, which shot 55.4 percent (31-for-56) from the field.

Notre Dame was led by sophomores #Eric Dummermuth# (20 points) and #Nick McCartney# (19 points, five rebounds, six assists).

In the first half, UMD jumped out to a 13-6 lead by the 15-minute mark and then extended that lead to 11 points (30-19) by 7:28. Dearborn built the lead on the strength of a 60 percent (15-for-25) shooting mark through the early going. After a timeout, Notre Dame rallied with 16-7 run to cut UMD's lead to two points (37-35) by the 3:33-mark. Dummermuth and McCartney each scored six points in the Falcons' outburst.

The Blue & White controlled the latter stage of the opening period, getting their offense in gear and at least keeping pace with the hot-shooting Wolves who would finish the half 16-of-27 (59.3 percent) from the floor. Notre Dame scored seven of the final nine points in the first half to take a 42-41 lead into their locker room at halftime, with Dummermuth (14 points) and McCartney (11) scoring 25 of the team's 42 points.

Both teams shot well from long range in the first, making more than 50 percent of their 3-point attempts. For NDC, McCartney was 3-of-5 on three-balls in the opening stanza.

In the second half, Notre Dame picked up where they had left off, extending their lead to eight (53-45) by the 16-minute mark. NDC opened the second by connecting on five of its first six field-goal attempts. The Falcons extended their lead to as many as 11 points, but the Wolves fought back to close the gap to two (66-64) by the eight-minute mark. Senior guard Matt Ponik led the Dearborn comeback - over the span of five minutes he hit a trio of 3-pointers, the third of which tied the score, 72-72, at 4:57.

Three minutes later, the score was knotted yet again, 77-77. NDC took a 79-77 lead on a bucket in the paint by Dummermuth, but the Wolves countered with a Nicholas Simpson basket at 0:22. Simpson then had a steal with six ticks remaining, setting up the game-winner by Cannon.

In a cruel turn of bad timing versus good stats, NDC turned the ball over twice in the final half-minute of the game but just five times in the previous 39-and-a-half minutes. NDC's even total turnovers are a new season-best and the fewest the team has committed since Feb. 14 of last season.

The Falcons finished with a 50.8 percent (32-for-63) mark from the floor, which marks their best shooting over a four-game stretch. Dummermuth scored his 20 on 9-of-19 shooting. Nick McCartney was 7-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Senior guard #Al Miller# chipped in 10 points.

One problem area for NDC was their performance at the free-throw line. The Falcons went 9-for-14 (64.3 percent). NDC is shooting just 63.3 percent (50-for-79) over their last four games, three of which have now been losses. 

"This has been a tough stretch of games," said NDC Head Coach Kevin Bille.  "We haven't played our best and now we face some adversity, which we knew we'd face at some point this year. But our kids are tough and they'll bounce back, I know that for a fact. We'll be better as a result of this past week."


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

ON TO FABULOUS LAS VEGAS: Notre Dame's next two games will be played in Las Vegas, Nev., in the 2009 Las Vegas Hoopla tournament. NDC will play Westminster (Utah) in day-one of the event (Dec. 18, 7 p.m. ET). The Falcons will then take on Hope International (Calif.) on Dec. 19. The games will be played at the Centennial Hills YMCA in Las Vegas. … Eric Dummermuth garnered 42 points and 19 boards in Livonia and was named to the State Farm Classic all-tournament team.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: Notre Dame was 6-of-14 (42.09 percent) on treys. NDC's success from beyond the 3-point arc on Saturday was a reversal of a recent trend. After hitting on 11-of-25 in their season opener against Miami-Hamilton on Nov. 13, the Falcons had gone 28-for-100 (28.0 percent) over all of their other eight games.

PASS-HAPPY: Notre Dame had 20 assists in the game, their most since garnering 27 in the season-opening 105-49 blowout win over Miami-Hamilton. Dearborn was credited with 23 assists in the game; that's the most by an NDC opponent since Feb. 28, 2008. The combined 43 assists mark the most in an NDC game since Dec. 9, 2006, when the Falcons and Kentucky Christian combined for 50.

LOWER-CASE 'D': Notre Dame came into the State Farm Classic ranked third in the nation in scoring defense (56.5 points per game) and fourth in field-goal defense (36.0 percent). In the two tournament games against Madonna and UM-Dearborn, the Falcons allowed 79.5 points per game on 51.3 percent (59-for-115) shooting.