SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- #Eric Dummermuth# and #Curtis McClure# combined for 43 points, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide against what is now a four-game losing streak, as Cedarville topped Notre Dame, 82-80, on Thursday night. (Box)

Cedarville (14-11, 9-5 American Mideast) got 27 points from senior guard Matt Harner, as the Yellow Jackets ran their all-time record against NDC to 6-0.

Notre Dame (9-17, 4-10) got 22 points from Dummermuth and 21 from McClure in the losing effort. With the loss, Notre Dame falls to six games under .500 in American Mideast Conference play. The Falcons have now lost six straight games at home.

A high-energy defensive effort fueled a 9-2 run to start the game for the Falcons, who had allowed 86.7 points per game over their last three losses. Cedarville would eventually wrest that lead away from NDC, but the home five finished the opening half on a 12-3 run emphatically capped off by a Curtis McClure slam in the waning moments of the period. That bucket sent the Falcons into their locker room with a 44-37 lead.

In the second, Notre Dame built that lead to 10 points (47-37) before a 14-6 run got CU back into the game. The Yellow Jackets pulled ahead, 54-53, on a Daniel Kohavi 3-pointer at 13:59, and then the two teams essentially traded baskets for a better part of the balance of the game. Cedarville, which came into the game ranked 10th in NAIA-II with 8.5 treys per game, connected from beyond the arc 11 times in the game.

It was a one-possession game until a Brian Grant basket gave the Yellow Jackets a 74-69 lead at 2:07. The Yellow Jackets clung to their lead over two foul-filled minutes to hold on for their fourth win in their last five games.

Harner scored his 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting; he was 5-of-12 from 3-point land. Dummermuth scored 12 of his 22 points from the line (he was 12-of-13) and was the game-high rebounder, with 12.

For McClure, Thursday's game proved to be an extension of what has now been a solid, three-week period of steady offensive output. The Cleveland native came into the game against CU having averaged 17.0 points per game over his last five contests and having shot 55.7 (34-of-61) from the floor over that stretch. On Thursday in Murphy Gymnasium, the 6-foot-3 swingman went 8-for-13 from the floor and 5-for-7 at the line. He also grabbed eight rebounds on a night when the Falcons out-rebounded the visitors, 42-32.

"I thought our guys played well in spurts tonight," said Head Coach #Kevin Bille#.  "We caught them by surprise with our press early on, but in the end, we just weren't able to finish."

The game marked NDC's third in a stretch of four straight at home.

Notre Dame will look to break their losing streak when they close out that four-game home stand on Saturday, Feb. 12, with a 4 p.m. tilt against Wilberforce.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

JACKET JARGON: Notre Dame and Cedarville have met six times in the all time series, which dates all the way back to 2002. The Yellow Jackets hold a 6-0 edge in the all time series, including a 4-0 edge against the Falcons at Murphy Gymnasium. Of the six games in the all time series, three have been decided by 11 points, one decided by seven, and last year, Cedarville defeated NDC in South Euclid by a point.

HOMEWORK: Saturday's matinee against Wilberforce marks the end of a four game home stand for the Falcons. The Falcons have just four games left on the 2010-11 slate, which includes a pair of home games against Point Park (Pa.) and Wilberforce, and roadies against Malone and Cedarville.