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URBANA, Ohio -- Riding momentum from an impressive home win over Glenville State on Saturday, the Notre Dame College men's basketball team took to the road on Thursday night to take on the Urbana Blue Knights in a Mountain East Conference showdown. The Falcons trailed for almost the entire game, but late buckets from Lawrence DeArmond and Najeeb Johnson tied and won the game, respectively, 85-82.

Early on with 14:17 remaining, the Falcons trailed but a Will Voorhees lay-up cut the deficit to three, 15-12. Both sides continued to go blow-for-blow, and exactly eight minutes later the Falcons still trailed by three, 29-26, with 6:17 in the first half.

The Blue Knights stole the momentum in the final minutes of the first half, using six free throws to close the half on a 10-4 run. At halftime, the Falcons trailed the Blue Knights by nine, 39-30.

Urbana heated up in the first 90 seconds of the second half, quickly using an 8-3 run to push the lead to 47-33. Urbana continued to add to their lead as a 3-pointer from Carlas Jackson gave the Blue Knights a comfortable 63-47 lead with 13:53 remaining in the game.

Exactly six minutes later with 7:53 remaining, a pair of free throws from Johnson cut the deficit to just seven, 69-62. Slowly but surely, the Falcons were chipping away at the Blue Knights' lead.

A pair of Urbana free throws pushed the lead back to nine, but a Falcons fast break turned into a Najeeb Johnson 3-pointer, slicing the deficit to just six. Urbana scored on its next possession to push their lead back to eight, but Kyauta Taylor stepped up for the Falcons, responding with a bucket to bring it to six, 73-67.

With just 3:05 remaining, Johnson again answered the call, scoring a lay-up to bring the deficit to six once again, 80-74. 

Needing a defensive stop, Tyree Gaiter turned a steal into an easy lay-up, cutting the deficit to just 80-76 with 2:50 remaining. Forty-five seconds later, DeArmond missed a lay-up, but proved resilient and grabbed his own rebound. DeArmond followed with a put-back lay-up, and the Falcons trailed by just two, 80-78.

On Urbana's ensuing possession, Gaiter forced a steal and again scored a lay-up, this time tying the game at 80. A jumper from Urbana's Mike Newton gave the Blue Knights a 82-80 lead with 1:29 remaining.

The Falcons took over on offense in dire need of a bucket, and looked to Gaiter, who assisted DeArmond on a lay-up that tied the game at 82 with just 1:13 left in the game.

Urbana took over on offense looking to take the lead in the final minute, but Taylor swatted the Blue Knights' shot attempt and DeArmond grabbed the rebound. 

With the game tied at 82 and the game in the final minute, the Falcons were in control of their own fate. With the shot clock winding down, Taylor swung a pass to Johnson, who promptly nailed a 3-pointer to give the Falcons an 85-82 lead with 14 seconds remaining.

Urbana was able to attempt a deep 3-pointer in the final seconds, but it was no good and the Falcons came away with a necessary road victory over the Blue Knights, 85-82.

DeArmond finished the game with 22 points, 14 rebounds and three assists for the Falcons. Taylor had 20 points on 7-8 shooting, while Johnson scored 14 points on 5-5 shooting, including 2-2 from beyond the arc.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-7 on the season, including 6-5 

The Falcons will compete next on Saturday, Jan. 24 on the road at Wheeling Jesuit University. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.