Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Hot shooting led Notre Dame to its second straight home-court victory on Friday night, as NDC downed Wilberforce, 82-59. (Box)

The Falcons (6-12) shot a blistering 60.4 percent (32-of-53) from the floor en route to winning for the second time in their last 10 games.  Phil Biggs, Marcquise Taylor and Raphi Tekie combined to go 20-of-29 in piling up 50 points in a game that evened NDC's home record this season at 4-4.

Notre Dame's 82 points mark their second 80-point game in a three-game stretch.  NDC's shooting performance was its best since the team shot 64.8 percent (59-of-91) in a win on Dec. 29, 2010.

The loss for Wilberforce (8-15) breaks what was a two-game winning streak for the Bulldogs.

The early minutes of Friday's game were evenly played, with Wilberforce having success in the paint and Notre Dame finding its points from beyond the arc.  The Bulldogs led 16-15.

When Raphi Tekie nailed a trey at 9:04, the Falcons pulled ahead, 20-19, and that bucket was part of an 11-4 run for Notre Dame.  Tekie would score 13 points and NDC wound up hitting five 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes of play.  Tekie had three of those long balls.

The Falcons built on that momentum, and it carried them to a 41-29 halftime advantage.  NDC went eight for its last 10 from the field in the first to close out the half with a 61.5 percent (16-of-26) mark in shooting the basketball.

Notre Dame's hot shooting continued into the second half, with the Falcons hitting nine of their first 13 attempts in the second while maintaining a lead of 15-plus points.  NDC upped its lead to 20 (70-50) by the seven-minute mark, and with a balanced effort on offense and defense, the Falcons closed out the 40 minutes having posted their second-largest margin of victory this season.

Forward Phil Biggs was the Falcons' leading scorer -- he tallied 19 points and eight rebounds while going 8-of-11 from the field.  Guard Marcquise Taylor registered 18 points and Tekie finished with 13.  That trio -- Biggs, Taylor and Tekie -- combined to go 6-for-6 on three-balls.  As a team, NDC made a season-high nine treys.

Troy Baugh had 10 points and four assists.  Nate Ensz added nine points and five boards.  Ronald Hightower led WU with 19 points.

With the victory, Notre Dame has now defeated Wilberforce five straight times, dating back to 2009.  The Falcons are now 5-1 all-time against the Bulldogs.  Five of those six games have been played on College Road; NDC is 4-1 in those games.

NDC's next game is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 1, when the Falcons will be on the road facing the Dragons of Tiffin University.  Tip-off in the NDC-TU is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

BUCKEYE BUNCH: Friday's game against Wilberforce marked NDC's third straight game against an Ohio foe.  The Falcons will face three more Ohio squads -- Tiffin, Cedarville, Ohio State-Lima -- before seeing their next out-of-state opponent on the schedule (Feb. 8 vs. Salem International-W. Va.). Notre Dame is 3-6 this season against Buckeye State opponents and 4-13 in their last 17 games against in-state foes.

GROUNDHOG, WHERE ART THOU?: Friday's contest marked Notre Dame's last game in the month of January.  The Falcons went 2-5 in seven January tilts to post their first sub-.500 January since going 2-6 in 2006.

ODDS AND ENSZ: The Falcons were out-rebounded, 38-23, on the night, marking the fifth time in their last six games that NDC has been outdone on the boards.  … Junior center Nate Ensz scored nine points in the game.  The Goessel, Kan., native has scored 31 points over his last three games after scoring a combined eight over his previous three.

BUZZER-BEATERS: NDC's 13-point lead at the break marked the team's third-largest halftime lead this season. … Tekie's previous high-points game was a 12-point effort at Houghton (N.Y.) on Dec. 10.  The freshman guard came into Friday's action averaging 5.1 points per contest. … NDC was a plus-seven in turnover margin on Friday, marking the team's fifth straight game on the plus side of the miscue ledger. … The Falcons were 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, where the tea now owns a 79.2 percent (57-of-72) mark over its last four games.