Box Score ERIE, Pa. -- The Notre Dame Falcons had a tough time finding their stroke on Friday evening, as they fell to Mercyhurst, 68-52.
The loss for the Falcons (6-3) was just their second in their last five games, but it was their third in a row on the road this season, while the win for the Lakers (5-3) gives them four in a row.
The shots just did not fall for Notre Dame on the evening, as they shot just 24.1-percent (13-for-54) from the floor, and 10.5-percent (2-for-19) from beyond the arc.
The Falcons got out to a rough start, getting just 25-percent (2-for-8) of their shots to fall in the first five minutes of the contest and committed three turnovers during that stretch, which allowed the Lakers to jump out an 8-5 advantage.
Mercyhurst's lead grew to five (15-10) over the next five minutes of the contest. Despite their early shooting woes, the Falcons were able to stay close to the Lakers, because of their decisive edge on the glass, outrebounding Mercyhurst 11-8, and five of those 11 boards came on the offensive end.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, things didn't get much better, as the Lakers went on a 12-2 run over the next five minutes. Notre Dame wasn't able to find their stroke, as they shot just 20-percent (4-for-20) over the first 15 minutes of the contest, and misfired on all six of their shots from beyond the arc, which allowed the Lakers to take a 27-12 advantage at the 4:40-mark.
The Lakers led by as many as 16 (29-13) with 3:12 remaining in the opening half, before the Falcons went on a 7-2 run to close out the half, and narrowed the deficit to 31-20 at the break. NDC was able to trim the deficit, as they got to the free throw line 16 times, but finished the first half without any makes from beyond the arc, going 0-for-7 from 3-point land, and shot 22.7-percent (5-for-22) from the floor. Mercyhurst shot 44.8-percent (13-for-29) in the opening half, and scored 10 points of 12 NDC turnovers.
The opening stages of the second half saw the Lakers maintain their double digit lead, until the Falcons caught fire from the free throw line. Down 46-33 with 12:15 to play, the Falcons triggered an 8-2 run, to trim the lead to single digits (48-41) over the next three minutes on the strength of their performance at the charity stripe. During that run, the Falcons scored six points at the line, with
Will Vorhees,
Najeeb Johnson and
Lawrence DeArmond all hitting a pair of free throws.
While the Falcons were able to do a better job at the charity stripe in the second half, hitting 77.7-percent (14) of their first 18 free throws, their shooting woes continued in the second half, as they were not able to get their shots to fall, shooting 10-percent (1-for-10) from 3-point land over the first 16 minutes of the second half.
Tyree Gaiter split a pair of free throws at the 6:52-mark to bring the Falcons within eight (53-45), but the Falcons went ice cold after that, as the Lakers ran off 11 straight points over the next four minutes of the contest to take a commanding, 62-45 lead, and never looked back.
Vorhees led the way for the Falcons with a double-double, turning in a 15-point, 10-rebound performance. DeArmond delivered a dozen points to go along with seven boards, while Gaiter had 11 points, three assists and a pair of steals.
The Falcons are in action again on Friday, Dec. 19, when they play host to the Malone Pioneers at Murphy Gymnasium for their final non-conference tilt of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
