WHEELING, W.Va. – Notre Dame College men's basketball dropped an 89-83 decision to Wheeling Jesuit University in Mountain East Conference play at the McDonough Center.

The Falcons (6-11, 4-7 MEC) were led by Tyree Gaiter who produced his second 30 point performance of the season.

The Cardinals claimed a 10 point lead (15-5) by the 13:44 mark of the first half. The Falcons, however would outscore the Cardinals 31-18 over the next 10 minutes to claim a 36-33 lead with 3:34 remaining in the first half. WJU finished the half the stronger of the two teams to hold a 45-40 advantage at halftime. 

Wheeling Jesuit extended their advantage at the start of the second half and held a 16 point lead (72-56) with 7:06 remaining. The Falcons fought back to trail by only 5 point 86-81 with 0:29 remaining. The Cardinals however would make some critical free throws to close out the game and win 89-83.

The Falcons produced their best performance of the season from the free throw line shooting 81 percent, making 17-21 free throws. Tyree Gaiter was a perfect 7-7 from the line and made 7 three-pointers on his way to 30 points.

Lawrence DeArmond produced a highly efficient 23 points, shooting 7-14 from the field, 1-2 from three-point range and 8-10 from the line. Also in double digits for the Falcons was Jarvis Huntley who had 12 points and 11 rebounds to produce his second double-double of the season.

The Cardinals were led by Andre Harris and Eric Siefert who had 23 and 21 points respectively.

The Falcons held an advantage in both three-point percentage (41.4-21.7) and free-throw percentage (81-68.4). However the Cardinals held a 49-35 rebounding advantage.

The Falcons will now travel to West Liberty on Thursday (Jan.30) to take on the undefeated No.1 Hilltoppers at 7:30 p.m.