CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- Saturday's Notre Dame-Cedarville game marked a match-up between the North one and the South two. And the South won. (Box)

The Yellow Jackets - the second-place team in the American Mideast Conference South Division - turned back the North-leading Falcons, 92-81.

With the loss, Notre Dame (17-8, 9-3 AMC) has now dropped back-to-back games for the first time since mid-December. NDC is now 4-4 in eight road games this season.

With the victory, Cedarville (17-8, 9-2) has won seven of their last eight. The Yellow Jackets - No. 18 in the most recent NAIA-II Coaches' Poll - remain one game behind South-leading Walsh.

Sophomore forward #Eric Dummermuth# paced NDC with 28 points in the loss, which was fueled by a solid Cedarville floor game and hot shoot shooting by the Yellow Jackets.

The Falcons were sharp early, hitting nine of their first 16 attempts from the floor. By the eight-minute mark, NDC was down, 24-23. With their solid start, Notre Dame quieted what was a capacity crowd at CU's Callan Athletic Center.

The host Yellow Jackets then went on a 3-point binge to open up a 35-28 lead by the 5:40 mark. CU nailed nine treys in the first half and went into their locker room with a 52-43 over Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets shot a sizzling 57.1 percent (20-for-35) from the field in the first.

Cedarville made five of their first seven attempts from the floor to start the second, as the Yellow Jackets opened up a 17-point lead (65-48) by the 15-minute mark. A high-powered Cedarville offense never relented, essentially trading baskets with NDC the rest of the way to finish off the 11-point win.

Senior center Ricardo Alliman was dominant for CU. The 6-foot-7 Kingston, Jamaica, native poured in 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Alliman also had a game-high 15 rebounds. As a team, Cedarville shot 55.0 percent (33-for-60) from the field and 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from beyond the 3-point arc. The Yellow Jackets committed just seven turnovers on the night.

For the Falcons, Eric Dummermuth hauled down eight rebounds to go with his 28 points. Senior guard #Al Miller# added 16 points. NDC shot 48.1 percent (25-for-52) from the floor. The Falcons went 7-of-10 from 3-point land and 24-for-33 (72.7 percent) from the foul line.

Notre Dame's next game will also be on the road - the Falcons will be at Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) on Tuesday, Feb. 9. Tip-off against the Raiders is slated for 8 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

COMFORTABLE JACKETS: With their home-court victory over Notre Dame on Saturday evening, the Yellow Jackets are now 9-1 at the Callan Athletic Center this season and 44-6 at home over the last four seasons (2006-10). … Cedarville is now 4-0 in their all-time series with the Falcons and 2-0 in series games at CU.

NDC D UNDONE: Notre Dame came into Saturday's game ranked eighth in the nation (NAIA-II) in scoring defense, at 64.2 points allowed per game. The 92 points yielded to the Yellow Jackets mark the most that NDC has given up in a game this season. … Prior to Saturday's tilt in Cedarville, NDC had gone four consecutive games holding their opponent under 40 percent from the field.

AL ABOARD: Al Miller has now scored 75 points over Notre Dame's last four games (18.8 points per game). For the season, the Fort Pierce, Fla., native is averaging 10.9 points per contest, which ranks second on the NDC team.