South Euclid, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons took advantage of Shawnee State's 24 fouls and sank 23 free throws on Thursday night, as they defeated the Bears, 73-61, to remain unbeaten in American Mideast Conference play. (Box)

Notre Dame (12-5, 4-0 AMC) used both great defense and good second half shooting at the foul line to secure the victory. The Falcons were led by sophomore #Eric Dummermuth#, who turned in his fourth consecutive double-double, and his 10th of the season. The Dover, Ohio, native paced NDC with 28 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 19 of his points in the second half. The Bears (6-12, 3-2) kept the game close in the first half, despite committing 13 fouls and shooting just 36.7 percent (11-for-30) over the first 20 minutes.

The Falcons scored the game's first five points and their stifling defense held the Bears without a field goal for the first four-and-a-half minutes of the contest. Notre Dame was in command for most of the first half and developed a 13-point lead after #Will Townsend#'s layup at the 10:54-mark, giving the Falcons a 23-8 edge.

Shawnee State closed the gap quickly with an impressive 8-0 run to cut the lead to 23-16, at the 7:25-mark. The Falcons had plenty of opportunities to pull away in the first stanza, but shot just 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from the charity stripe. The Bears cut their deficit to three at the end of the first half, after Keelyn Franklin hit a jumper at the buzzer to make it 34-31.

The Bears remained close at the start of the second half and cut the lead to one, 38-37, at the 17:35 mark, but a pair of steals from #Nick McCartney# led to NDC's next four points off fast breaks. The Falcons retained control for remainder of the game. Dummermuth hit a 3-pointer with 5:17 to play to give the Falcons a 62-46 lead, their largest of the night. Shawnee State answered quickly after Franklin and Ian Nixson buried a pair of 3-point shots on the Bears' next two possessions, to make it a 10-point game, but were not able to get any closer. Notre Dame shot an outstanding 93.8% (15-for-16) from the foul line in the second half to secure the victory.

While it was Dummermuth's 28 that led the way for NDC, McCartney and #Al Miller# chipped in with 10 and 16 points respectively. McCartney also chipped in with five steals. Franklin and Nixson both scored 16 points for the Bears.

“This was a hard fought victory for us tonight,” said Head Coach #Kevin Bille#. “Our guys played hard and battled in the second half to come away with a big win at home.”

For the Falcons, the victory was their fourth in a row, marking their longest winning streak since they opened the season with seven in a row. The Falcons have outscored their opponents, 325-247 (19.5 PPG), during their four-game win streak.

The Blue & White will hit the road for their next contest on Saturday, Jan. 16. The Falcons will head to Point Park, N.Y., for a meeting with the Pioneers. Tip-off for the AMC tilt is scheduled for 4 p.m.

NOTES FROM THE NEST:

JUMP FOR JANUARY: NDC is 19-7 (.720) in their last 26 games during the month of January (2006-09).

NDC AGAINST THE AMC: Thursday's contest was the second of 11 consecutive conference games for the Falcons. NDC has one non-conference game remaining on Feb. 9 against Ohio State-Newark. The Falcons will play five of their next 10 games at home, which includes a string of four straight games at Murphy Gymnasium from Jan. 21-28.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: With six rebounds against the Bears, center Karim McFarlane has tallied 724 boards over his four year career. He is just four rebounds away from passing Paul Benjamin (2001-05) for the all-time program lead.

SECURE IN THE 70'S: The Falcons are 11-2 this season when scoring 70 points or more. They've put up 80 or more seven times and passed the 90-point plateau on five separate occasions.