Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame ended its losing streak with an 85-84 victory at Murphy Gymnasium on Saturday.  (Box)

Five Falcons notched double figures in the game, and Troy Baugh and Phil Biggs registered double-doubles, as NDC won for the first time since Dec. 18.  The victory snaps the Falcons' longest losing streak since 2003.

Notre Dame (5-11) was led by Baugh, who scored 14 points, dished out six assists and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Biggs, who notched game-highs in points, with 19, and rebounds, with 17.

For Malone (8-11), the loss marks their seventh in an eight-game stretch.

Malone scored six points of the game before Taylor Rieger gave NDC its first points with a trey at 17:42.  That three-ball launched the Falcons into a 19-6 run, and they led, 19-12, at 12:24.  The Pioneers rallied with a run of their own -- from 11:37 to 3:36, MU outscored NDC, 17-7.

By the 2:27-mark, the two teams were knotted at 31-31.  Malone scored on the last possession of the first half to take a 40-39 lead at halftime.  In a physical first half, the two teams combined to go 25-of-27 at the free-throw line.  Nate Ensz had 10 first-half points to lead the Falcons; Zach Bates had 11 to lead the Pioneers.

Flipping the script from the first half, it was Notre Dame who scored the first six points in the second frame.  That spurt put the Falcons on top, 45-40.  NDC extended that lead to seven (50-43) before Malone once again wrested away the game's momentum with a 10-0 run.

That run was ended when Ensz hit a nifty reverse lay-up at 12:30, but moments later, the Falcons' big man was tagged with his fourth foul of the game.  With Ensz out of the game, NDC went with a smaller, faster unit, and that unit provided a spark.  When Troy Baugh found Phil Biggs cutting through the lane between defenders at 10:05, he threaded a pass to the senior from Byesville, Ohio, which led to a three-point play and an emotional lift for the home five.

The Falcons rode that momentum to an eight-point lead by the 8:32-mark.  Malone countered with an 8-0 run to tie the game by the 6:30-mark. The former American Mideast Conference foes then traded baskets for several minutes of game play, but when Malone's Corey Veldhuizen nailed a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining, the Pioneers found themselves up, 77-75.

Troy Baugh erased that lead with a jumper on the left block with six seconds left, and the NDC interior blocked a last-second desperation attempt in the lane at the other end to send the game into an extra session.

A monster five-minute frame for Phil Biggs -- six points and three rebounds -- then spearheaded what would become the Falcons first victory in over a month.  NDC outscored Malone, 8-7.

The Blue & White shot the ball extremely well from the free throw line in the opening half, hitting on 14 of their 15 free throws (93.3-percent) and shot and shot 71.9-percent (23-for-32) from the stripe on the afternoon.  After struggling to find their touch in the first half, shooting just 35.3-percent (12-for-34), NDC hit on 51.7-percent (15-for-29) of their shots from the floor in the second half. 

The Falcons are in action again on Wednesday, Jan. 25, when they head to Urbana, Ohio, to take on the Blue Knights. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 PM. 

NOTES FROM THE NEST ...

THE MATCHUP WITH MALONE: One time conference foes in the American Mideast Conference, the Falcons and Pioneers have met 13 times in the all time series.  The Pioneers carry an 8-5 edge, winning the first five games in the all time series, before the Falcons went on to win the next four.  Saturday's victory snapped NDC's three game losing skid against the Pioneers.

TAYLOR-MADE: NDC Freshmen guard Marcquice Taylor has been the Falcons' best scoring threat of late.  He dumped in a career high, 31 points against Roberts Wesleyan on Jan. 18, and he's tallied 109 points (21.8 PPG) over his last five games.   


BONUS BASKETBALL: Saturday afternoon's overtime thriller marked NDC's second overtime victory at Murphy Gymnasium this season.  In the 2011-12 opener, the Falcons topped Houghton (N.Y.), 79-76 in OT.