Box Score
ERIE, Pa. -- The Notre Dame Falcons rallied in the second half of Sunday afternoon's contest against Mercyhurst, but early struggles haunted them again, as they fell to the Lakers, 78-68.

The loss for the Falcons (2-8) was their fifth in a row, and their sixth straight away from Murphy Gymnasium, while the victory for the Lakers (8-4) gives them five in their last six games, and completes a season sweep of the Falcons.

Quite like the first matchup of the season between the two teams, the first half was tightly contested, with both sides making big runs.  Mercyhurst was the first to make a move, as they held the Falcons to just one field goal over the first five minutes of the contest.  During that stretch, the Lakers went on a 12-2 run to take a commanding lead. 

Notre Dame did not back down, and came roaring back.  Over the next six and half minutes the Falcons found their stroke, and went on a 15-4 run.  The Falcons took their lone lead of the game at the 8:32-mark, when Cameron Carlin netted a jumper to give them a 17-16 advantage. 

That lead was short-lived, as the Lakers responded with nine straight points, to regain the momentum and the advantage.  Notre Dame battled back again, and on the strength of a 6-for-6 shooting performance from the free throw line in the final minutes of the half, NDC narrowed the halftime deficit to four (35-31).

Early struggles haunted the Falcons again in the second stanza.  Jarvis Huntley hit a jumper in the opening minute of the second half, but the Falcons missed their next five shots, and did not get their next field goal until the 15:46-mark when Carlin nailed another jumper.

Notre Dame again went cold from the floor, and didn't make another shot from the floor until Lawrence DeArmond converted a layup with 8:56 to play.  Meanwhile, the Lakers continued to add to their advantage, and built a 14-point lead on a few separate occasions.

Down 10 (68-58) with just under five minutes to play, Notre Dame caught fire again, as Tyree Gaiter ran off five straight points in a 17-second stretch, to bring the deficit down to five (68-63), prompting the Lakers to call a timeout.

Moments later, DeArmond split a pair of free throws to bring the Falcons within four (68-64) but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. Notre Dame was put in a position where they had to foul in the game's final three minutes, and the Lakers hit their free throws to put the game away.

The Falcons converted on 23 (79.3-percent) of their 29 foul shots, but had trouble connecting from long distance, hitting just 7.6-percent (1-for-13) from beyond the arc. 


A trio of Falcons scored in double figures, and it was Gaiter who led the way with 21 points.  Nearly half of his points came from the charity stripe, where he shot an incredible, 90.9-percent (10-for-11) on the evening.  Geovonte Rose had 10 points to go along with five rebounds, while DeArmond added 13 points, and Eric Dummermuth led the Falcons with 14 rebounds.

The Falcons will be in action again on Saturday, Jan. 5, when they take on Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) in another road tilt.  The contest is scheduled to tip at 3 p.m.