SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons scored their first home victory in 45 days, as they shot the lights out and brought a four game losing streak to an end, with a 97-50 victory over Wilberforce on Saturday afternoon. (Box)

For the Falcons (10-17, 5-10), victory snaps a six game home losing streak, giving them their first win at Murphy Gymnasium since Dec. 29. For the Bulldogs (5-21, 3-13) the loss was their fourth in a row.

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 10-2 lead over the first three and a half minutes of the contest. Wilberforce was able to hang with Notre Dame for the first 13 minutes of the half, and trailed the Falcons, 26-23, after Tom Wilson nailed a pair of free throws at the 7:16-mark, but Notre Dame responded by scoring the next nine points, and outscored the Bulldogs, 22-7, through the rest of the half, and took an 18-point lead (48-30) into the locker room.

The Falcons drilled 56.3 percent (18-for-32) of their shots in the first half, and 71.4 percent (5-for-7) of their three pointers, while holding the Bulldogs to a 37.0 percent (10-for-27) clip from the floor, though they were able to hit on 42.9 percent (6-for-14) of their 3-pointers in the game's first 20 minutes.

Notre Dame remained hot in the second half, and held the Bulldogs to just 20 second half points. In addition, the Falcons held Wilberforce to just a 24.2 percent (8-for-33) clip in the second half. Notre Dame scored 49 points in the second half, and never led by any less than 20 after the 16-minute mark.

#Eric Dummermuth# led the Falcons with 23 points and and he delivered his 19th double-double of the season, by pulling down 18 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive. There were three other Falcons in double figures, including #Curtis McClure# who scored 22 points. #Phil Biggs# turned in his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds and #Taylor Rieger# buried four 3-pointers, en route to a 16 point performance. Notre Dame also used an incredible 55-29 rebounding edge to secure the victory.


“We played great and shot the ball extremely well today,” said Head Coach #Kevin Bille#. “We played well on both ends of the floor and it feels great to get our first conference home victory of the season.”

The Blue & White will hit the road for their next contest. The Falcons will face Malone in another AMC tilt, on Tuesday, Feb. 15. The contest is scheduled to tip 8:00 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST:

FIRST HALF FUN: The Falcons have been a phenomenal first half team at home this season. In 12 home tilts this season, the Falcons are averaging 41.0points in the opening half, while holding their opponents to 33.3. In addition, they are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 7.7 rebounds per half. NDC is shooting 52.1 percent (185-for-355) during that stretch, while holding the opposition to 41.0 percent (157-for-382) from the floor.

BULLYING THE BULLDOGS: Saturday's contest marked the fifth meeting all time between the two teams. Notre Dame is now 4-1 against the Bulldogs all time, with their only loss in the series coming back in 2006. The Falcons defeated the Bulldogs, 78-65, back on Jan. 5, and defeated them, 75-56 a year ago.

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