SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Malone nipped Notre Dame, 65-62, in American Mideast Conference action at Murphy Gymnasium on Tuesday night. (Box)

Junior forward #Eric Dummermuth# stuffed the stat sheet with 32 points and 15 rebounds, and the host Falcons led the game at the half, but solid 3-point shooting, good defense and a balanced floor game won the game for the ranked Pioneers.

With the loss, Notre Dame (7-11, 2-4 AMC) fell to two games under .500 in conference play. Malone (14-6, 7-1) -- the No. 17 team in the nation (NAIA-II Coaches' Poll) -- stayed in second place in the AMC standings with the victory. The NAIA's top-ranked team, Walsh, came into Tuesday's action with an 8-0 mark in league play.

Notre Dame and Malone traded baskets through the first eight minutes of play, but starting with an emphatic #Nathan Ensz# dunk on a #Phil Biggs# feed at 11:27, the Falcons went on a 9-2 run. That spurt yielded a six-point lead by the mid-point of the half.

Malone countered and pulled even, 22-22, on a Cory Veldhuizen bucket at 5:56. The Pioneers used the three-ball in their return volley; they hit four treys in the opening 20 minutes. Notre Dame, though, was the team with the momentum when the two teams hit halftime. The Falcons closed out the first with a 7-2 run and led, 31-26 at the break.

In the second stanza, MU again relied on points from beyond the arc and they whittled away at the NDC lead and eventually overtook the Falcons.

When Eric Dummermuth netted two points on a tip-in at 16:40, Notre Dame led by seven (38-31). The Falcons, however, didn't hit another shot from the field for nearly eight minutes of game play. In that stretch, NDC went 0-for-7 from the floor, and Malone climbed back into the game. When Che Richardson drained a 3-pointer at 9:11, it capped off an 18-5 run for the Pioneers and MU led, 49-43.

Notre Dame squared the score at 51-51 by the six-minute mark and then got as close as two points twice later in the game, but the ranked Pioneers held on for the gutty victory.

Dummemuth's final tally of 32 points, which included 20 in the second half, was a game-high and his second-most in a single game this season. His points came on 13-of-18 shooting from the floor and a 6-of-6 night at the free-throw line. The Falcons' junior power forward also hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds on the night.

Jock Rottman led Malone in scoring; he had 12 points and five boards in the game, leading a balanced Pioneer effort that included seven players scoring six or more points.

The Falcons will continue what is a three-game home stand with games on Friday (Roberts Wesleyan-N.Y., 8 p.m.) and Saturday (Houghton-N.Y., 4 p.m.).


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

HOME-MALONE: Malone came to South Euclid with 13 wins in tow, but the ranked Pioneers had struggled on the road. Coming into Tuesday's tilt on College Road, MU had been just 3-4 in seven road games, and last season the team went 5-10 away from Canton. … At home, Malone is 14-7 over the last two seasons.

BACK ON COLLEGE ROAD: Tuesday's game in South Euclid marked the first of three straight games in the friendly confines of Murphy Gymnasium for NDC. Of their 11 remaining contests, six will be played on College Road. With Tuesday's result, the Falcons are 3-3 at Murphy Gymnasium this season. … Prior to its game against Malone, Notre Dame had won eight of its last nine home conference games.