Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. -- The Notre Dame Falcons saw a nine-point first half lead disappear on Saturday evening, in a 78-69 loss to Wheeling Jesuit on the road.
The Falcons (10-8, 6-6 MEC) have now lost seven of eight on the road, and saw a two-game winning streak come to an end with the loss, while the Cardinals (9-7, 5-6) have now won three in a row.
In the early stages of the contest, the Falcons controlled the offensive glass, with four offensive rebounds over the first four and a half minutes, but had a tough time making their shots, as they hit on just 22.2-percent (2-for-9) of their shots, and held a slight, 5-4 advantage.
The shooting struggles continued for the Falcons, as they went four minutes without making a shot from the floor, and the Cardinals took advantage, mounting a 15-10 lead at the 10:46-mark, until
Oliver Megins buried a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to get the Falcons out of their shooting funk.
The Cardinals had not trailed since the start of Notre Dame's shooting lull, until
Kyauta Taylor buried a 3-ball with 5:39 remaining to give the Falcons a 25-23 advantage, which really turned things around. Taylor's 3-pointer was just the beginning of a big NDC run to end the half. While the Cardinals came right back to take the lead on a 3-pointer from Just Fritts, that 3-pointer was the last shot they would make in the opening half.
As it turned out, that 3-ball from Taylor ended up being the start of a string for him where he scored 11 straight points for Notre Dame, as his first 3-pointer was followed by a layup in traffic and a pair of other 3-pointers as well to give NDC a 33-26 lead with 2:49 left in the half.
The Falcons added another bucket, on a jumper from
Lawrence DeArmond, and that brought an end to a 12-0 run from the Falcons, giving them a 35-26 advantage, which they took into the half. Notre Dame really put the clamps on the Cardinals defensively, as they did not make a single shot over the final 5:13 of the opening half.
The Falcons did not shoot well overall in the opening half, but they were able to get their shots to fall from beyond the arc, where they shot 54.5-percent (6-for-11) and they nailed all five of their free throws as well.
The second half did not start well for the Falcons, as they missed their first two shots and turned it over once in the first two minutes of the half, which opened the door for the Cardinals to bury a trio of 3-pointers to tie the game a 35-35.
The Cardinals hit another 3-pointer, hitting on their first four 3-point shots of the second half, and took a 38-35 lead just over two and a half minutes into the half.
Tyree Gaiter broke the Falcons out of their funk, as he hit a jumper with 16:46 remaining, to put NDC on the board in the second half, which started a 6-0 NDC run over the next minute of the contest, giving NDC a 41-38 advantage.
The two sides continued to battle over the next six minutes with either side really being able to pull away. Wheeling Jesuit developed a six point (54-48) advantage with 10:33 to play, but the Falcons ran off the next four points to bring the deficit down to two (54-52) on buckets from Gaiter and Taylor.
Will Vorhees hit a pair of free throws with 7:11 left in the contest to tie the game at 60-60, but the Falcons were rendered scoreless over the next few minutes, missing a pair of shots and turned it over twice as well while the Cardinals took a 64-60 lead.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, they just couldn't get their shots to fall. Prior to the aforementioned free throws hit by Vorhees, Gaiter hit a jumper with 8:22 remaining, and Notre Dame missed their next eight shots, which allowed the Cardinals to develop a 71-61 lead with 1:12 remaining.
The shooting slump proved to be too much for the Falcons to overcome.
Najeeb Johnson buried a pair of 3-pointers inside the final minute to pull the Falcons within five, but that was as close as they could get.
Gaiter led the way for Notre Dame with 21 points on the evening to go along with five assists and four steals. Taylor wasn't far behind with 19 points, and DeArmond was the only other Falcon in double figures with 13 points to go along with nine rebounds.
The Falcons are in action again on Thursday, Jan. 29, when they play host to No. 5 West Liberty at Murphy Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
