Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons finished Friday night's contest with a 12-0 run over the final four minutes of the contest to defeat Malone, 77-65, at Murphy Gymnasium.
Notre Dame (7-3) has now won five in a row at home, with a perfect 5-0 record at Murphy Gymnasium, while the Pioneers (3-7) have now lost five in a row overall, and five in a row on the road.
Both teams shot the ball well in the opening half, which included six lead changes. Notre Dame was in control for most of the half, but neither side was able to take a decisive advantage, until the Falcons went on a 9-2 run about 10 minutes in, to take a 31-22 advantage. The run began with an
Oliver Megins jumper at the 10:18-mark, and concluded with a
Kyauta Taylor layup with 8:22 remaining in the half to give NDC its largest lead of the opening stanza.
It didn't take Malone long to respond, as they went on a 9-0 run over the next three and a half minutes, tying the game at 31-31 on an 3-pointer from Ben Haraway with 5:06 left in the first half. The run put the Pioneers back in the contest, but they were held to just a pair of field goals through the final five minutes of the half, as NDC took a 38-35 lead into the half.
Notre Dame shot very well in the opening half, hitting on 51.1-percent (15-for-29) of their shots, and shot particularly well from beyond the arc, where they buried 55.6-percent (5) of nine shots. Malone remained close, due to a nice effort on the offensive glass, grabbing five offensive rebounds, resulting six second chance points.
Much like the first half, the second half saw a number of lead changes, as neither side was really able to pull away until the Falcons went on their 12-0 run to close out the victory.
Lawrence DeArmond, who finished the first half with 10 points, paced the Falcons through most of the second half, with 17 points in the second stanza, and he scored Notre Dame's first 10 points of the second half as well.
Notre Dame led by six (53-47) after Taylor's jumper at the 11:37-mark, before the Pioneers came storming back, and scored the next seven points to take a 54-53 lead with 9:53 remaining. The Pioneers saw their lead increase to five (60-55) after a Jalen Miller layup with 7:47 remaining, but Notre Dame would tie the game over the next two minutes of the contest.
With the contest tied at 65-65 after a 3-pointer from Christian Graves at the 3:53-mark, the Notre Dame Falcons clamped down defensively, and held the Pioneers scoreless through the remainder of the game.
Tyree Gaiter hit a 3-pointer with 3:24 left, to start the 12-0 run to close out the game, and the Pioneers missed their final eight shots during that stretch as the Falcons came away with the win.
DeArmond led the way for the Falcons with 27 points, getting nine of those from the charity stripe, and he paced the Falcons with five assists. Gaiter finished the night with 22 points, four assists and four steals, while
Will Vorhees added 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Falcons will not be in action again until after the first of the year. They'll return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, when they hit the road for another Mountain East Conference tilt against Shepherd. Tip-off is schedule for 4 p.m.
