Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- In front of an energetic crowd for Notre Dame's final home contest of the calendar year, the Falcons held off a late surge from Mercyhurst, in a 71-66 victory over the Lakers on Saturday afternoon.
The win for the Falcons (6-3) was their third at home this season against a non-conference opponent, and they have now won eight straight home games against non-MEC foes, while the loss for the Lakers (6-3) was their first in four road games this season.
The game was full of fouls, as key contributors on both sides played big minutes while in foul trouble. The two teams combined to commit 47 fouls (24 for Mercyhurst and 23 for Notre Dame) on the night, providing plenty of chances at the free throw line, where Notre Dame shot 74.1-percent (20-for-27) on the day while the Lakers shot just 60.0-percent (12-for-20).
Both the Falcons and Lakers had trouble making their shots early on in the contest. Despite the early shooting struggles the Falcons managed to stage an early 6-0 lead, on buckets from
Tyree Gaiter,
Jacob Sawman and
Will Vorhees. The Falcons never trailed at any point in the opening half.
Notre Dame built a nine-point lead (18-9) with 10:45 left in the opening half, but the Lakers would eventually come back over the next five minutes, as they eventually dropped the deficit to two (23-21) with just under six minutes to play.
The Falcons then went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes, which was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from
Ryan Hickoff, who provided huge minutes for the Falcons off the bench, and was NDC's leading scorer on the afternoon. Hickoff buried a 3-ball at the 3:52-mark to give the Falcons a 33-21 advantage, and
Najeeb Johnson hit a layup at the buzzer to bring NDC's halftime lead up to 14 (39-25).
Early in the second half, the Flacons took their largest lead of the game after Vorhees hit a jumper on NDC's first possession, making it a 41-25 Falcons advantage. The Lakers caught fire over the next five minutes, as they went on a 13-2 run, and trimmed the NDC lead down to five (43-38) with 14:55 to play.
With three minutes left, the Lakers took their only lead of the contest on a 3-pointer from Gerrae Williams. Down for the first time all night, and playing with a few starters in foul trouble, Notre Dame responded quickly, as Vorhees ignited the offense with a dunk on a fast break opportunity, which began an incredible 8-2 run over the final three minutes of the game, as the Falcons held on for the victory.
Notre Dame used a balanced scoring attack, with five Falcons scoring in double figures, led by Hickoff who had a huge game, with 14 points in 23 minutes off the bench. Vorhees added 13 points to go along with a trio of assists and five rebounds.
Gaiter, Sawman and
Marco Colombo all scored 10 points on the day as well. Gaiter added five assists, while Colombo added a pair of steals.
Ja'Sean Lewis had another huge game for NDC inside, as he tallied 12 rebounds, while adding four blocks and four assists.
The Falcons are in action again on Friday, Dec. 18, when they hit the road for a non-conference matchup against Lincoln (Pa.). Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
