Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons came from behind force overtime on Saturday evening, and closed out the regular season with a 109-98 victory over Urbana on Senior Day.
The Falcons (15-13, 11-11 MEC) secured the seventh seed in the first round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament with the victory, while the loss for Urbana (6-22, 3-19 MEC) was their fourth in a row to close out the season.
There were only six lead changes throughout the entire contest, despite the fact that the two teams remained extremely close throughout. Notre Dame was able to force overtime, as
Oliver Megins hit a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer at the end of regulation, before NDC outscored Urbana, 17-6 in overtime for the win.
Neither team was shy with their 3-pointers throughout the game, as they two sides combined for 62 3-point shots on the night, and that all began at the beginning of the game.
Notre Dame was hot early on, hitting their first three shots, allowing them to develop an early 6-2 advantage, but it didn't take long for Urbana to answer, as they went on an 8-0 run to follow, taking a 10-6 lead. The lead grew to seven on a few different occasions in the opening half for the Blue Knights, until the Falcons came storming back.
Down 32-26 with 6:57 to play in the first half, Notre Dame began hitting their stride, and they came back to take the lead before the end of the half. They trimmed the deficit to four over the next few minutes, before closing out the first half on a 10-3 run in the final three minutes of the half. During that stretch, they held the Blue Knights to one make from the field, while hitting four of their final five shots to take a 42-39 lead at the break.
The shooting numbers were identical from the field in the first half, as both teams shot 45.7-percent (16-for-35), while half (8) of NDC's makes were from 3-point land, going 8-for-16 (50.0-percent) from beyond the arc.
The Falcons appeared as though they were going to cruise to victory, as they controlled most of the second half. The Notre Dame lead grew to 12 on a couple of different occasions, and they were ahead of the Blue Knights, 81-69, with 4:34 remaining after 3-pointers from
Lawrence DeArmond and
Tyree Gaiter. However, the Blue Knights would not go away, and they responded with an incredible 16-3 run over the next three minutes, and took an 85-84 lead with 1:33 left.
Myles Busby hit a number of big free throws in the final minute of the contest, and he buried two with nine seconds left to give Urbana a 92-89 lead. On the ensuing possession, Megins buried a big 3-pointer on an assist from
Najeeb Johnson to beat the buzzer, forcing overtime.
While the Blue Knights scored the first two points of the overtime period, the Falcons responded with a 10-0 run over the next four minutes. During that stretch, Gaiter buried a few big free throws, Johnson hammered home a dunk and
Will Vorhees buried a pair of baskets to kick start the run, as the Falcons never looked back.
Gaiter and Vorhees each turned in double-doubles. Gaiter had 27 points to go along with 11 assists and four steals, while Vorheees had 25 points and 10 rebounds. DeArmond finished the contest with 20 points and six assists, and Megins added 17 points.
The Falcons will be in action again on Tuesday, March 3, when they play host to West Virginia State in the First Round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament, presented by GoMart. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
