Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons squared off against the No.1 team in the country, Wheeling Jesuit, on Thursday evening at Murphy Gymnasium, but fell into a shooting slump, and fell to the top ranked Cardinals, 75-55.
For the Falcons (17-10, 11-10 MEC), the loss was their fourth in their last five games, while the victory for the top ranked Cardinals (27-1, 20-1 MEC) was their 22nd in a row overall, and 11th straight on the road. The contest marked the second time this season that the Falcons hosted the No. 1 team in the country.
Both teams had a difficult time making their shots, as the Falcons hit 31.7-percent (20-for-63) of their shots, while the Cardinals shot just 39.2-percent (29-for-74). The struggles for both teams extended to the 3-point line, where NDC shot 17.9-percent (5-for-28) while the Cardinals were 9-for-29 (31.0-percent).
Despite the shooting woes, Notre Dame was able to hang with the Cardinals for most of the first half. The Falcons never led in the contest, and they were last tied with the Cardinals at the 11:53-mark in the first half after
Kyauta Taylor hit a jumper to knot the game up at 14-14.
Notre Dame was down just four (27-23) after Taylor hit another jumper with 7:26 left in the half, before the Cardinals went on a 10-1 run over the next five and a half minutes to take a 37-24 advantage. Notre Dame went nearly six minutes without making a bucket, before
Will Vorhees's layup with 1:55 left in the half.
Over the final two minutes of the half, the Falcons were able to battle back, and trimmed the deficit down to eight (38-30) halfway through the contest.
Over the first four minutes of the second half, the Falcons were able to stay well within striking distance, and they were able to trim the deficit to five (40-35) after
Ja'Sean Lewis buried a 3-pointer. Two minutes later, Vorhees converted another layup off an assist from
Tyree Gaiter, and the Falcons pulled within three (42-39).
Notre Dame wasn't able to continue that momentum, as they made just one of their following four shots, and committed a pair of turnovers during a three minute stretch, that saw the Cardinals go on a 13-2 run, and take a 52-41 advantage with 11:04 to play.
The aforementioned run gave the Cardinals all the momentum they would need to pull away. Notre Dame at one point was able to draw within eight (54-46) after a 3-ball from Vorhees, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way, as the Cardinals held the Falcons to just nine points after that.
Vorhees led the way for the Falcons with 20 points, while Lewis turned in a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Gaiter added 10 points to go along with seven assists.
The Falcons will end the regular season on the road on Saturday, Feb. 27, when they head down to Urbana, Ohio, for another MEC matchup against the Blue Knights. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
