Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons came from behind to erase an early 13-0 deficit in their home opener on Tuesday night, as they delivered an upset victory with an 89-80 overtime win over Mercyhurst. 

For the Falcons (3-0) the victory marks the 10th consecutive year that won their home opener, while the loss for the Lakers (1-1) was their second in a row against the Falcons. The win was a big one for Notre Dame, because it was their second against a top-10 team in the Atlantic Region. 

Big contributions came from several different Falcons throughout the night, but they were paced by a pair of Ironmen, who played all 45 minutes. Ja'Sean Lewis turned in his third straight double-double, with 11 assists and 12 rebounds to go along with four blocks and two steals. Will Vorhees turned in a double-double as well, with 24 points, 12 boards and four assists. 

Things didn't start so well for Notre Dame, as they missed their first seven shots of the contest, which allowed the Lakers to go on a 13-0 run over the first four minutes of the game. Notre Dame was able to get on the board, after Lewis's put-back at the 15:48-mark. 

As it turned out, the 13-point hole would get a little deeper, as the Lakers continued to hit their shots over the next five minutes, and they took their largest lead of the game (27-11) after Justin Senou hit a 3-pointer with 11:04 to play in the half. 

Notre Dame was down 10 (37-27) with 3:39 left in the half, before they were able to fight back, and bring the deficit down to three (41-38) at the half. During that run, Notre Dame hit four consecutive shots, getting buckets from Oliver Megins, Kobie Johnson and Vorhees. 

Mercyhurst scored the first seven points of the second half, and eventually built an 11-point (51-40) lead with 16:10 left in the contest, but the Falcons once again, battled back. 

The Lakers maintained a lead, until Notre Dame was able to jump out in front on a 3-pointer from Kyauta Taylor off an assist from Lewis at the 9:01-mark, giving NDC a 63-61 advantage. 

The rest of regulation was tightly contested, with neither side being able to take a lead larger than two, and they found themselves tied at 73-73, to force overtime. 

Overtime belonged to the Falcons. Notre Dame outscored Mercyhurst, 16-7 in overtime. They began the overtime period with an incredible 8-0 run to take an 81-73 advantage and never looked back. Taylor, Vorhees and Johnson all hit big free throws inside the final two minutes to complete the comeback. 

In addition to the big performances from Lewis and Vorhees, Taylor added 25 points to lead the Falcons, while adding seven rebounds and three steals. Johnson added 18 points, three steals and three assists. 

Notre Dame returns to action Saturday, Nov. 19, when they hit the road for their Mountain East Conference opener, as they pay a visit to No. 1 West Liberty in West Liberty, W.Va.  Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.