Box Score INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- The Notre Dame Falcons got out to a hot start on Sunday evening, but were not able to capitalize, as they fell to West Virginia State on the road, 85-74.
For the Falcons (14-12, 10-10 MEC) the loss was their first on the road in nearly three weeks, while the win for the Yellow Jackets (5-22, 5-14 MEC) was their second in their last three following an 8-game losing streak.
Notre Dame was able to do a few things well on Sunday, scoring 22 points off 17 WV State turnovers, and they kept possessions alive with 17 offensive rebounds, but they had a tough time making their shots, hitting on just 35.5-percent (27-for-76) of their shots from the field.
At the beginning of the contest, it certainly didn't appear as though the Falcons were going to have any issues against WV State. The game began with the Falcons playing exceptionally well defensively, forcing four turnovers over the first four minutes, as they staged a 10-2 lead.
Over the next few minutes, the Yellow Jackets cut down on their mistakes, and that allowed them to battle back, as they eventually evened up the contest at 15-15 with 12:20 left in the opening half.
The contest hung in the balance over the next seven minutes, as both teams exchanged leads, with neither side being able to run away. During that seven minute stretch, the Falcons led three times while the Yellow Jackets led twice, until they battled to a 33-33 tie with 5:04 left in the opening half.
From that point forward, the Yellow Jackets took control, and they never trailed again through the rest of the contest. They went on a 9-0 run over the next 90 seconds, and found themselves ahead, 42-33 with 3:28 to go in the half.
The Falcons eventually narrowed the deficit down to three (44-41) over the next two minutes after getting big buckets from
Kyauta Taylor,
Oliver Megins,
Will Vorhees and
Tyree Gaiter, but the Yellow Jackets took a 47-41 lead into the break.
The second half included an incredible NDC comeback, which was preceded by a strong WV State run at the beginning of the half. The Yellow Jackets capitalized on the momentum they built at the end of the first half, and they built a double digit lead five minutes into the second stanza.
WV State maintained a double digit lead for about five minutes, until the Falcons got hot. The Falcons had narrowed the deficit to seven (70-63), with 6:10 remaining, when they hit three of their next four shots, and came back to tie the game at 70-70 after
Lawrence DeArmond's layup with 3:51 to play.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, after the game tying layup from DeArmond, they were only able to get one of their last seven shots from the floor to fall in the final four minutes of the game, while the Yellow Jackets pulled away to claim the victory.
Vorhees led the way for Notre Dame, turning in a double-double, with a season high, 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds. DeArmond added 16 points and eight rebounds, while Gaiter added 13 points and seven assists.
The Falcons are in action again on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when they head to Charleston, W.Va., to take on the Golden Eagles in their final road game of the regular season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
