Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons used a hot start to score their third straight victory on Monday night, defeating Virginia-Wise, 85-60, at Murphy Gymnasium.

For the Falcons (9-11, 7-7 MEC) the victory was their third in a row, and their fourth in their last five games, while the loss for the Cavs (9-10, 6-9) was their third in their last four games, and gives them seven in their last 10.

Notre Dame caught fire from the get go, and never trailed at any point in the contest.  They drained their first five shots of the night, to take an early 11-0 advantage over the first three minutes of the contest. 

In the early stages of the contest, Tyree Gaiter, who was recently named the Mountain East Conference's Player of the Week paced the NDC offense, as he scored nine of NDC's first 16 points, and ended the first half with a dozen.

The Falcons seemingly could not miss in the opening half, as their lead continued to grow.  While Gaiter set the tone for NDC early on, it was Lawrence DeArmond who kept it going, as he made his first seven shots of the night, and had a huge opening half. 

Just nine minutes into the first half, the Falcons were shooting 86.6-percent (13-for-15) from the floor, and took a commanding 30-8 lead. The Cavaliers were not able to recover, as DeArmond finished the half with 25 points, and shot 80.0-percent (8-for-10) from the field.

The Falcons shot 62.1-percent (18-for-29) from the field and 55.6-percent (5-for-9) behind the three point arc. While the NDC defense held the Cavaliers to 23.3-percent (7-for-30) shooting from the field and 6.7-percent (1-for-15) from the three point line.

The sharp shooting continued for the Falcons in the second half, as they hit four out of their first six shots in the second stanza, and never really gave the Cavs a chance to come back.

Notre Dame opened up the biggest lead of the game, 79-48, with 5:55 remaining, with a solid combination of scoring and smooth ball movement. NDC never looked back and held on for the 85-60 victory.

DeArmond led the way in scoring for the Falcons in scoring with career high, 31 points, while shooting an unbelievable, 78.5-percent (11-for-14) from the field, including 3-for-3 from behind the three point line to go along with six rebounds. Gaiter and Jarvis Huntley both scored in double figures, with  14 and 10 respectively.

The Falcons shot 56.7-percent from the field (34-for-60) on the night, while holding the Cavaliers to 30.3-percent (20-for-66) and 20-percent (6-for-30) from the three point line.

The Falcons are in action again on Thursday, Feb. 6, when they head to Shepherdstown, W.Va., to take on Shepherd. The contest is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m.