SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Tuesday's NDC Holiday Classic finale featured a pair of 10-win teams, as Notre Dame hosted Windsor (Canada). After 40 hard-fought minutes of basketball, the Falcons' Canadian guests walked out of Murphy Gymnasium with an 11th win. The Lancers turned back the host Falcons, 79-74.

Freshman forward #Eric Dummermuth# notched his fourth consecutive double-double in the losing effort; he collected 24 points and 11 rebounds on the night. The loss for Notre Dame (10-5) is their fourth over their last five games.

In the opening stanza, Notre Dame took an early 8-2 lead only to see Windsor (11-5) go on an 18-4 run. That run established a 20-12 lead by the 12:30-mark.

Dummermuth and senior guard #Jeff Johnson# then fueled a 16-4 run for the Falcons. Each hit key buckets in the NDC comeback, which put them up, 29-26, at 3:40. The Lancers closed out the half with a 10-4 run to take 36-33 lead into their locker room at halftime. Dummermuth finished the first half with 17 points.

Defense dominated the frame with neither side shooting 40 percent from the field. The Falcons were held to a 34.6 percent (9-for-26) mark from the floor. They did manage to get to the line 21 times in the first, knocking down 14 of those attempts (66.7 percent).

In the second half, Notre Dame fell behind by four (49-45) and answered with an 8-2 run capped off by a #Dan Jones# trey at 10:50. The senior forward from Niles, Ohio, had several key baskets and steals in the second frame. He finished with 17 points, four assists, and four steals.

Late in the half, between the seven and three-minute marks, Windsor went on an 11-2 run to pull ahead by 10, 71-61. That stretch was dominated by the play of freshman guard Ellis French (Wolfville, N.S.). French hit a key layup in traffic which was bracketed by two 3-point plays. He finished the game with 12 points.

In the waning minutes, NDC twice cut the UW lead to three points. With the Falcons forced to foul, the Lancers made several key free throws late to seal the victory.

For the 40 minutes, junior guard Monty Hardware (Toronto, Ont.) led the Lancer effort on the scoreboard. He scored 20 for the game. Freshman forward Steve Priolo (St. Catherine's, Ont.) added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Overall, six Lancers hit double figures in scoring, four of which came off head coach Chris Oliver's bench. Windsor shot 42.4 percent (25-for-59) for the game and out-rebounded Notre Dame, 42-34. The Lancers also tripled up the Falcons from long range – UW dialed up nine 3-pointers to NDC's three.

Notre Dame shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) for the game. The Falcon defense again played well in the contest; NDC won the turnover battle, 19-11.

The loss for Notre Dame runs their non-conference record to 10-5. The Falcons have one remaining non-league game on their regular season slate (next Wednesday, Jan. 7, vs. OSU-Mansfield). Prior to this season, the program had finished above .500 in its non-conference slate just once in its history (8-7, 2004-05).

Before that final non-league game, the Falcons will open their 2008-09 American Mideast Conference (AMC) schedule. NDC will be at Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) on Saturday, Jan. 3. Tip off in Rochester is slated for 6 p.m. as the second half of a women's-men's AMC doubleheader. Notre Dame's AMC schedule will include 13 games, one against each AMC foe, from Jan. 3 to Feb. 21.

NOTES FROM THE NEST…

HOLIDAY TRIMMINGS: In the tournament game that preceded the NDC-UW tilt, AMC power Cedarville defeated Algoma (Canada), 100-51, to run their season record to 15-1. Cedarville is scheduled to return to South Euclid on Jan. 27 to play the Falcons in their one AMC contest of the season. The Yellow Jackets are currently ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll.

MEET THE LANCERS: The University of Windsor has an enrollment of 16,000. The Lancers compete in 16 sports as members of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). … Windsor arrived on College Road Monday off a one-month layoff; the Lancers had not played since Nov. 30. UW was topped by Cedarville, 77-74, in their first tournament game on Monday. … Tuesday's game marked the second meeting between the Falcons and Lancers. NDC topped UW, 82-64, on Dec. 31, 2006 in South Euclid.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION: The Falcons came into Tuesday night's game having made just 27.4 percent (23-for-84) of their 3-point attempts over a six-game stretch. On Tuesday against Windsor, NDC went just 3-of-16 from beyond the arc.

CAN-DU: Eric Dummermuth may be sorry to see 2008 go. The 6-foot-6 newcomer from Dover, Ohio, closed out the calendar year by posting four straight double-doubles. Over those four games, Dummermuth averaged 22.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. … For the season, the freshman forward is averaging 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He leads the Falcons in both of those categories as he does minutes played per game (33.1) and field goal percentage (53.0 percent, 105-for-198).