Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons scored their second home victory of the season on Monday evening, as they erased a late, nine point deficit, to come away with a 90-87 victory over the Lake Erie Storm.
For the Falcons (4-2) the victory was their second in three games at home this season, and snapped a brief, two-game slide, while the loss for the Storm (3-2) snapped a three-game winning streak.
Notre Dame used an incredible 3-point shooting performance, hitting on 7-of-11 (63.6-percent) of their shots from beyond the arc, and they had a decisive advantage on the glass, where they outrebounded the Storm, 47-35.
Will Vorhees finished the game with a career high, 18 rebounds.
In another thriller, the Falcons had to rally, to make a nine-point (77-68) deficit fade with 6:33 to play. They went on an incredible, 10-0 run over the next two minutes to take the lead. In the end, Notre Dame was able to ice the game in the final 15 seconds, as
Tyree Gaiter hit a pair of free throws to give NDC a 90-85 lead, and the Storm was not able to recover.
The opening half was tightly contested, and while both sides went on modest runs, neither team was able to take a decisive advantage. The Storm led by no more than three, but did so on a few different occasions, while Notre Dame eventually led by as many as six in the opening half.
The Falcons held a 38-32 lead after
Najeeb Johnson buried a pair of free throws with 3:38 to play, but Lake Erie came storming back over the next two minutes, and eventually tied the game at 39-39 with 1:49 to play.
Kyauta Taylor buried a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to give NDC a 42-39 lead, and they would head into the locker room with a 42-41 advantage.
Lake Erie took control from the start of the second half. They went on a 13-5 run of the first four and a half minutes to take a 54-47 advantage. While Notre Dame was able to dive into that deficit, Lake Erie never trailed until Gaiter's aforementioned free throws inside the five minute mark.
Collin Barth hit a 3-pointer with 10:08 to play to give Lake Erie their first nine-point (67-58) lead of the half, and Sean Howard hit another three and a half minutes later to put the Storm up, 77-68, before the Falcons caught fire.
Over the next two and a half minutes, Notre Dame was able to clamp down defensively, forcing a Lake Erie turnover and they forced the Storm to miss their next three shots. A dunk by
Marco Colombo started the fire on their 10-0 run, while getting buckets from Taylor, Gaiter and Vorhees during that incredible run as well to take the lead.
On a night where NDC shot just 69.4-percent (25-for-36) from the charity stripe, they made their free throws when they counted down the stretch. Inside the final two minutes, Notre Dame buried all eight free throws to help them ice the game.
The game was tied, 80-80, when Vorhees drilled two free throws with 2:36 left, and the lead would extend to six (86-80) over the next two minutes after buckets from both Gaiter and Colombo. With less than a minute to play, Gaiter hit four big free throws to keep NDC ahead, and they came away with a big home victory.
Four Falcons scored in double figures, and Gaiter led the way with 27 points to go along with nine assists. Gaiter, who became the school's all-time leader in steals last week, is now just two assists away from breaking the program record for career assists.
Colombo added 19 points for the Falcons and added eight rebounds, while Vorhees turned in his first double-double of the season with 19 points to go along with 18 boards. Taylor finished the game with 17 points, on the strength of a perfect (4-for-4) night from 3-point land.
The Falcons are in action again on Thursday, Dec. 3, when they return to Mountain East Conference action at home against West Virginia State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
