Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons fell victim to a sharp shooting West Liberty squad on Thursday evening at Murphy Gymnasium, as the 10th ranked Hilltoppers came away with a 108-74 win over the Falcons.
For the Falcons (10-9, 6-7 MEC) the loss was just their second at home this season, while the win for the Hilltoppers (16-2, 11-2) was their second in as many tries against the Falcons this season.
West Liberty shot the lights out, hitting on 58.0-percent of their shots (40-for-69) on the night, and 10 of those makes came from beyond the arc.
Feeding off the energy from the sold out crowd, the Falcons were able to hang with the Hilltoppers in the early stages of the contest. After the Hilltoppers took a 7-4 lead just three minutes in,
Kyauta Taylor and
Lawrence DeArmond both hit big buckets, and DeArmond's 3-pointer gave the Falcons a 9-7 lead at the 16:38-mark.
NDC stayed well within striking distance, until the Hilltoppers caught fire halfway through the opening half.
Najeeb Johnson buried a jumper with 13:14 left in the half to bring the Falcons within two (17-15), before the Hilltoppers buried 5 of their next 7 shots, and went on a 13-2 during the following five minutes of the contest, and found themselves ahead, 30-17, with 8:27 remaining.
West Liberty led by as many as 15 on multiple occasions, but Notre Dame was able to narrow the deficit down to 11 (49-38) by the end of the half.
The Falcons shot 40.0-percent (14-for-35) from the floor in the opening half, but had a hard time getting their shots to fall from beyond the arc, shooting just 25.0-percent (4-for-16) from 3-point land.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, things didn't get any better in the second half. The Hilltoppers set the tone in the first few minutes of the second half, and never really allowed the Falcons any chance to get back into the game.
Seger Bonifant scored the first five points of the half for West Liberty, which triggered an 11-0 run over the first three minutes of the half to give the Hilltoppers a commanding 60-38 advantage, and they just added to their lead from there.
Four Falcons scored in double figures on the night. DeArmond led the way for NDC with 21 points, while
Tyree Gaiter added 14 points to go along with four assists and four steals.
Oliver Megins contributed with 11 points and eight rebounds, and
Will Vorhees added 13 points.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Jan. 31, when they hit the road for another MEC tilt against Concord (WV) in Athens, W.Va. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
