Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- A late push by the Notre Dame Falcons in the second half of Sunday afternoon's contest was not enough, as NDC fell to Algoma, 69-65. (Box)

The loss for NDC (4-5) ended their season best, three game winning streak, while Algoma improved to 7-3 with the win.

The Falcons trailed by nine at the half, and found themselves behind by as many as 16 in the second stanza, but came storming back, and closed the gap to four (66-62) with 27 seconds remaining, but the Thunderbirds found a way to close out the contest, by hitting their free throws to seal the deal.

Four Falcons scored in double figures for NDC in the loss.  Phil Biggs led the way for NDC with 17 points, while Marcquice Taylor added 14, Kalomo Figueroa-Jackson chipped in with 12 and Troy Baugh scored 11.

Both teams struggled shooting in the first half.  Notre Dame shot just 27.6-percent (8-for-29) in the opening stanza while the Thunderbirds hit on 34.4-percent (11-for-32) of their shots from the floor. 

Notre Dame scored the first two points of the contest, a minute and 12 seconds in, on Brennan Osborn's jumper to give the Falcons their only lead of the game.  Algoma held a 6-5 lead at the 16:30-mark, then went on an 8-0 run to take a commanding, 13-5, capped by Mark Wortham's free throw at the 12:34-mark. 

The Falcons were able to narrow the gap to four on multiple occasions, before the Thunderbirds took another eight point lead (21-13) with 7:50 to go, when NDC went on a 9-2 run, and brought the deficit down to one (23-22) after Osborn buried a pair of free throw tosses at the 5:15-mark. 

Algoma held a 27-24 advantage with 3:49 to go before the half, when they ran off eight straight points to take an 11 point lead (35-24).  Figueroa-Jackson then hit a shot at the buzzer for the Falcons, leaving NDC in a nine point hole (35-26) at the half. 

Algoma maintained a double digit lead for the first eight and a half minutes of the second half, and led by as many as 16 (44-28).  Notre Dame came storming back, and capped a 7-0 run at the 8:26-mark after Biggs buried a jumper, cutting the Algoma lead to three (54-51). 

The Thunderbirds were ahead by 11 (67-56) with 1:53 remaining, when the Falcons caught fire, and ran off seven straight points.  The 7-0 run was capped by Taylor's 3-ball with 27 seconds remaining.  Algoma's Jovain Wilson drained a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining, to seal the deal. 

Notre Dame shot just 35.8-percent (24-for-67) from the floor on the afternoon, while the Thunderbirds caught fire on the second half, shooting 57.1-percent (12-for-21) in the game's final 20 minutes, and they hit on 43.4-percent (23-for-53)of their shots  on the afternoon. 

"We didn't make shots and that affected other parts of the game," said Head Coach Kevin Bille. "It's important for us to knock down shots, but even more important for us to be mentally tough. Hopefully we learned a lesson today and it will make us better in the long run."

Despite not having Eric Dummermuth, the leading rebounder in program history in uniform again, the Falcons were still able to even out the rebounding margin, at 42-42.  Baugh and Figueroa-Jackson both pulled down seven rebounds, while Baugh came away with a game high, five steals. 

The Falcons are in action again on Friday, Dec. 30, when they square off against Texas A&M International, in Laredo, Texas.  Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m.