Box Score CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons held their own in the opening half of Saturday afternoon's game against Cedarville, but the Falcons could not hold of Cedarville's second half surge, which vaulted the Yellow Jackets to an 84-69 victory. (Box)

The Falcons (4-10) have now lost six games in a row, and remain winless in eight games all time against Cedarville.  The Yellow Jackets (9-6) have now won three out of their last four games, and they remain unbeaten in four games at home. 

Notre Dame was very impressive in the opening stages of the contest, and took control early on.  The Falcons held the lead for the first nine minutes of the contest, and led by as many as eight (17-9) at the 13:18-mark after Phil Biggs buried a jumper. 

Cedarville came back to take their first lead of the contest with 11 minutes remaining in the opening stanza after Zach Brown drilled a 3-pointer. 

The second portion of the opening half proved to be entertaining, as both sides went back and forth and nobody was able to pull away, until the Falcons hit a cold spell.  Kalomo Figueroa-Jackson's layup at the 5:15-mark, but the Falcons could not score over the next four minutes of the contest, allowing the Yellow Jackets to take the lead. 

Cedarville went into the half with a 33-28 advantage.  Both teams shot the ball well in the first half.  Cedarville shot 50.0-percent from the floor (13-for-26), including a 54.5-percent (6-for-11) clip from 3-point land.  Notre Dame went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, but hit on 12 of their 22 shots (54.5-percent) from the floor in the opening half. 

The Yellow Jackets took control early in the second half and never looked back.  Cedarville went on a 12-2 run over the first five minutes of the second half, giving them a 15-point advantage.  The Falcons were held to just six points over the first seven and a half minutes of the second half, and never recovered. 

Cedarville led by as many as 18 (64-46), and while the Falcons were able to knock the deficit down to 10 on two separate occasions, and trailed 72-62 with 3:32 to play, they were never able to get any closer than that.  

"I thought we showed signs of improvement tonight, which was very encouraging," said Head Coach Kevin Bille. "We had a few lapses which really hurt us, and Cedarville shot the ball extremely well."

Marcquice Taylor led the Falcons in scoring again, with his third consecutive game of 20 points or more.  Taylor scored 21 points, while Biggs was the only other Falcon in double figures, with 17.  Taylor Rieger paced the Falcons with three assists, while Taylor added four rebounds, and senior Steve Savel contributed with four rebounds in six minutes of action. 

Notre Dame shot the ball well on the afternoon, hitting on 51.0-percent (25-for-49) of their shots from the floor, and while they got off to a slow start from long distance in the opening half, they nailed 50.0-percent (4-for-8) of their shots from 3-point land in the second half.  Cedarville outrebounded NDC, 35-21.

The Falcons are in action again on Wednesday, Jan. 18, when they welcome Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) into Murphy Gymnasium. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 PM. 

NOTES FROM THE NEST ...

BEE STINGS: One time conference foes in the American Mideast Conference, the Falcons and Yellow Jackets have met eight times in the all time series, which dates back to Feb.12, 2002. Cedarville holds an 8-0 advantage in the all time series, which includes one post season affair, back in 2010, when the Yellow Jackets defeated NDC to advance to the NAIA national tournament.  

BOARD WORK: The Falcons are averaging 34.2 rebounds per game this season, an average that ranks fifth all time in program history.  They've done most of it without the services of Eric Dummermuth, who is the program's all time leading rebounder.  Biggs leads the team with 72 rebounds on the season, while Nate Ensz is averaging 5.7 RPG over seven games.