NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- Notre Dame junior #Eric Dummermuth# pulled down 11 rebounds in Saturday afternoon's contest at Walsh, setting the program record for career rebounds, but the Falcons fell to the No. 1 ranked (NAIA-II Coaches Poll) Cavaliers, 83-69. (Box)

For the Falcons (6-10, 1-3), the loss marked their second in their last three games. For the top ranked Cavaliers (16-0, 6-0) the victory marked their 41st consecutive victory at home.

Dummermuth grabbed his record breaking rebound at the 17:36 mark, cleaning up a missed 3-pointer by Lamar Skeeter. The junior from Dover, Ohio, passed Karim McFarlane, who set the record last year. Dummermuth has collected 798 boards in his career.

Notre Dame was able to hang with the Cavaliers for most of the first half, until Walsh really caught fire from beyond the arc. The Falcons found themselves within six (36-30) at the 5:35-mark after Nate Ensz buried a jumper, but the Cavaliers finished the half with a 14-2 run, and took a 50-32 lead into the locker room at the half.

Notre Dame had trouble handling Walsh swingman, Ron Kinney, who caught fire from the perimeter, scoring 22 first half points on the strength of a 6-for-8 (75.0 percent) shooting performance from 3-point land.

The Falcons started the second half slowly, but played extremely well down the stretch in the final stanza. The Cavaliers continued to shoot extremely well through the first portion of the first half, and took a commanding, 69-41 lead at the 12:06-mark, after Eric Schiele buried a 3-pointer, which prompted the Falcons to call a timeout.

Notre Dame responded by going on a 14-0 run over the next six minutes, and held the Cavaliers without a basket for the next seven and a half minutes. The run was encouraging, but not enough to take the Cavaliers down.

Three Falcons scored in double figures, including #Taylor Rieger# who paced the Falcons with 18 points. Dummermuth turned in his eleventh double-double of the season with17 points to go along with his 11 boards. #Curtis McClure# added 16 points.

“I'm very happy with the way our guys performed in the second half,” said Head Coach #Kevin Bille#. “We played some great defense which led to a lot of points in transition, and I hope we can find a way to continue to do that for a full 40 minutes.”

The Blue & White will return home for another AMC tilt on Tuesday, Jan. 11. The Falcons will square off against Cedarville, at Murphy Gymnasium. The contest is scheduled to tip at 8:00 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST:

RANK 'EM: Saturday's contest marked Notre Dame's third contest this season against a team ranked in the NAIA-II Top-25 coaches poll. Notre Dame is now 0-3 against teams in the top 25 this season. The Falcons dropped a 75-82, decision to the then No. 25 ranked Saints of Siena Heights back on Nov. 19, and they fell on the road to the then ranked No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan, 61-73.

SERIES HISTORY: The Cavaliers and Falcons have locked horns eight times in the all time series. Walsh has won all eight games, including six on their home floor, dating back to 2001. The two teams faced each other just three times between 2001-07, but they have seen quite a bit of each other recently. Saturday's meeting was their fifth meeting over the last two years.

NO JANUARY JITTERS: Notre Dame has played extremely well in the first month of the calendar year over their last two seasons. The Falcons are 15-5 in January since the 2008-09 season. Last season, Notre Dame went 8-1 in January, and went 6-0 at home in the first month of the calendar year.