Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons dropped their second home game of the season on Wednesday evening, as they fell to Mercyhurst, 80-64, at Murphy Gymnasium.

Notre Dame (2-4) has now lost four out of their last five contests, while the victory for Mercyhurst (4-3) was their second in a row, and their first since 2005 against the Falcons.

The contest was relatively close through the opening half, but the Lakers caught fire in the second stanza, hitting 61.9-percent (13-for-21) of their shots from the floor to pull away.

Notre Dame had a rough go offensively to begin the opening half, as they didn't net  their first field goal until the 16:25-mark on Lawrence DeArmond's layup.  During that stretch, the Lakers nailed three of their first five shots to take a 9-2 advantage. 

The Falcons rallied back, and eventually tied the game at 16-16 on Raphie Tekie's 3-ball with 11:12 remaining in the opening stanza.  The Lakers responded by scoring the next six points to regain momentum, and never trailed throughout the half. 

Mercyhurst was able to limit Notre Dame's opportunities to score, but the Falcons were able to stay within striking distance, thanks to a 50.0-percent (11-for-22) shooting performance in the opening half. The Lakers took a 38-31 advantage into the locker room at the break.

The Falcons had a tough time making shots at the beginning of the second half.  They missed four out of their first five shots in the second stanza, and Jonathan Ouegnin's steal, which was followed by a dunk at the 17:10-mark grew Mercyhurst's lead to 12 (47-35). 

NDC then rallied, while the Lakers were rendered scoreless through the next five minutes.  The Falcons went on an 8-0 run, which was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Tyree Gaiter and Raphie Tekie    to drop the deficit to four (47-43).

The Lakers saw their lead grow to double digits again over the next three minutes while the Falcons went without a field goal. Mercyhurst went on an 11-0 run to take control of the contest, and led 58-45, with 9:52-remaining. 

Mercyhurst never relinquished control of the contest from that point forward.  Notre Dame was able to get as close as eight on multiple occasions, but couldn't draw any closer.

A trio of Falcons scored in double figures.  Eric Dummermuth led the way with a game high, 20 points to go along with eight rebounds.  Gaiter added 10 points four steals and four rebounds while DeArmond came away with 11 points on the evening. 

The Falcons will be in action again on Saturday, Dec. 8, when they hit the road, and square off against Southern Indiana.  The contest is scheduled to tip at 8 p.m.