Box Score CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Notre Dame Falcons capitalized on a hot start at the Charleston Civic Center on Thursday evening, as they came away with a big road victory, topping the Charleston Golden Eagles, 85-68.
The win for the Falcons (15-6, 9-6 MEC) snapped a five-game losing streak against the Golden Eagles, was their third in a row, and gives them five out of their last six overall. The loss for the Golden Eagles (11-10, 8-7 MEC) was their third in a row overall, and snapped a five-game win streak against the Falcons.
Notre Dame hit on 52-percent (13-for-25) of their shots from beyond the arc on the night, and scored 29 points off 18 Charleston turnovers. Notre Dame scored the game's first nine points, and they never trailed at any point throughout the contest.
The first few minutes of the game were dominated by Notre Dame. NDC was in lockdown mode defensively, as they came away with stops on UC's first five possessions. During that stretch, Notre Dame buried their first four shots from the floor, getting buckets from
Will Vorhees,
Ja'Sean Lewis and
Tyree Gaiter to take a 9-0 lead.
They weren't done there, as they scored eight of the game's next 10 points, leading 17-2 after Vorhees hit a layup with 14:21 left in the opening half.
Charleston quickly caught fire, as they went on a 15-3 run over the next four minutes of the contest to cut the NDC lead down to three (20-17) with 10:38 left in the first half. NDC was able to answer with a jumper from Vorhees and a 3-pointer from
Oliver Megins over the next minute of the contest to stretch the lead back to eight (25-17) with 9:39 left in the first.
The Golden Eagles were able to get back within three (28-25) with 7:06 left in the half, but NDC responded with a 3-pointer from Gaiter moments later, which began a 19-3 run over the next six minutes of action, which was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from
Ryan Hickoff, and ended on a jumper from
Kyauta Taylor to give NDC a 47-28 advantage with 1:15 left in the half.
NDC scored 16 points of 11 UC turnovers in the opening half, while the Falcons shot 45.9-percent (17-for-37) from the field, including a 56.3-percent (9-for-16) clip from 3-point land as they went into the break with a 47-31 advantage.
The contest was never in question in the second stanza. Notre Dame led by double digits through the rest of the evening, and never let up. Charleston was able to draw as close as 11 just a few minutes into the half, but couldn't get any closer. Notre Dame led by as many as 23 (77-54), and were up by 20 or more during the final eight minutes of action.
Gaiter led the Falcons with 23 points, and added seven assists to go along with a trio of steals. Taylor had a double-double, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and added three steals as well. Vorhees, the reigning MEC player of the week scored 19 points and added eight rebounds.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Feb. 6, when they continue their two-game trip with another MEC tilt against West Virginia State in Institute, W.Va. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
