Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons turned up the heat defensively in the second half of Thursday night's game against West Virginia Wesleyan, as they erased an 11-point halftime deficit to come away with a 68-57 victory at Murphy Gymnasium.
Notre Dame (13-6, 7-6) completed a season sweep of the Bobcats (11-8, 6-7 MEC), with the victory, and they've now won three of their last four overall, including three straight at home. West Virginia Wesleyan has now lost two in a row.
It was a tale of two halves on Thursday night for the Falcons, who fell behind the Bobcats, 39-28, in the first half. Notre Dame's pressure defense went to work in the second half, holding WV Wesleyan to just a 27.8-percent (5-for-18) shooting performance in the second half, while limiting them to only 18 second half points.
West Virginia Wesleyan established a lead early on the first half. Just two and a half minutes into the contest, they took a lead that they would never surrender until the Falcons caught fire in the second half.
Slowly, yet surely, the Bobcats were able to neutralize NDC's high powered offense by slowing them down, as their lead continued to grow. They brought their lead up to nine points (21-12) with 12:35 left in the half, and the Falcons were only able to get within four (21-17) after a 3-pointer from
Kyauta Taylor at the 11:40-mark in the first half.
The Bobcats did a great job of taking care of the ball, committing just one turnover in the opening half, while they shot 48.3-percent (14-for-29), and NDC's struggled, hitting just 35.5-percent (11-for-31) of their first half shots.
Notre Dame was able to pick up the pace in the second half, where their pressure defense forced nine Bobcat turnovers. In addition, Notre Dame was able to get better looks offensively, and they took advantage, shooting 57.7-percent (15-for-26) in the second half.
WVWC's Tanner McGrew hit a layup a minute into the second half, before the Bobcats hit a major dry spell offensively. After McGrew's make, the Bobcats missed their next three shots, while turning the ball over five times before they made another shot, and by the time they hit their next shot, the Falcons went on a 12-0 run, capped by a
Tyree Gaiter layup, to take their first lead (43-41) since the opening minutes of the game.
Despite those early struggles, the Bobcats were able to regain the lead shortly after the aforementioned 12-0 run. They regained the lead, 48-45, with 12:12 left in the game, and stayed ahead of the Falcons for the next five and a half minutes, until Taylor hit another 3-pointer with 6:31 left, giving NDC a 54-53 advantage. The 3-ball was right in the middle of a 10-0 NDC, run, with Taylor scoring seven of those points.
Notre Dame never trailed again. They were able to get a few big buckets from Gaiter,
Will Vorhees and
Ja'Sean Lewis down the stretch, and Gaiter hit six free throws inside the final minute to negate a possible Bobcat comeback.
Four Falcons scored in double figures, led by Vorhees who had 24 points to go along with eight rebounds. Taylor added 18 points and four boards, while Gaiter contributed with 16 points and a pair of steals.
Ryan Hickoff scored 10 points on the night, while Lewis was NDC's leader in both rebounds with 10, and assists with six.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Jan. 30, when they play host to Glenville State at Murphy Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
