Box Score ATHENS, W.Va.—The Notre Dame Falcons fell victim to a second half three-point barrage from the Concord Mountain Lions on Saturday evening, as the Falcons fell on the road, 85-72.
For the Falcons (10-10, 6-8 MEC) the loss was their third in a row, while victory for the Mountain Lions (13-6, 9-5) was their sixth in their last seven games.
Notre Dame shot a respectable, 45.2-percent (14-for-31) from long distance in the contest, but had three players (
Will Vorhees,
Kyauta Taylor and
Oliver Megins) foul out, while Concord shot an even 50.0-percent (9-for-18) from 3-point range, and made 7-of-11 (63.6-percrent) in the second half.
The opening half saw both sides exchange modest runs, and the contest started with both teams struggling to make their shots. Notre Dame was only able to hit on 22.2-percent (2-for-9) of their shots over the first five minutes of the contest, and Concord struggled as well, hitting on just 28.5-percent (2) of their first seven shots, while taking a 6-4 advantage over the Falcons during that stretch.
Concord led for most of the half, though the Falcons never let the lead get too large in the opening half, and they tied them on several occasions. The game was tied at 18-18 with six minutes left in the first half, before Concord went on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes and 13 seconds to take their largest lead of the game (25-18) with 2:47 left in the half.
Despite the big run, Notre Dame came storming back inside the final three minutes. Notre Dame hit on all three of their 3-pointers over the final two minutes of the half, including two from
Tyree Gaiter, who hit a 3-ball with five seconds left to tie the game at 29-29, which was the score going into the half.
Gaiter had 14 points in the opening half, getting 12 of those points from beyond the arc. Notre Dame shot just 35.7-percent (10-for-28) from the floor in the first half, but shot 50.0-percent (5-for-10) from beyond the arc.
In the opening minute of the second half,
Lawrence DeArmond hit a 3-pointer to give the Falcons their first lead (32-31) since the opening two minutes of the game, but it did not last long. After DeArmond's 3-ball, the Falcons missed their next six shots, while Concord went on an 11-0 run to take a 42-32 advantage.
Vorhees buried a big 3-pointer at the 15:04-mark to snap the NDC cold streak, bringing the deficit down to seven (42-35), but Concord answered with three consecutive three pointers to take a 16-point advantage (51-35) with 13:38 to play.
Notre Dame would eventually catch fire, as they hit four consecutive shots at one point, but the deficit proved to be too much, and they were not able to neutralize Concord's 3-point prowess, as the Mountain Lions hit seven (70.0-percent) of their first 10 shots from 3-point land in the second half.
Gaiter led the charge for Notre Dame offensively, with a 24-point performance, getting 18 of his points from beyond the arc. DeArmond stuffed the stat sheet as well, with a double-double, scoring 16 points, hauling in 10 rebounds, to go along with five assists, two blocks and two steals. Vorhees scored 16 as well for the Falcons and pulled down seven rebounds.
The Falcons are in action again on Monday, Feb. 2, when they hit the road for another MEC contest against Virginia-Wise. The contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
