SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – In their home opener, and conference opener, Notre Dame College used a second half comeback to win and 33 points from senior Will Vorhees to beat Concord University by a score of 86-76, on Saturday afternoon.

The Mountain Lions (2-2, 0-1 MEC) got off to a very hot start, hitting two three pointers and a layup within the first two minutes of the game. At the 18:10 mark, Concord led by a score of 8-3.

The Falcons (2-2, 1-0) then rattled off a 12-0 run, which included 10 points in the paint, and took the lead by seven points (15-8) with 15 minutes remaining in the half. The first five baskets of the offensive run were either a layup or a dunk.

As head coach Tim Koenig said, after the game, "their advantage was shooting the ball on the perimeter, running up and down, playing more of a wide open, spread ball screen, shoot the ball from the perimeter. Our advantage is on the interior."

The Mountain Lions then tied the game at 18 with a layup by Brendon Chevannes at the 13:03 mark. A rebound and a three pointer on the other end by Malik Johnson put CU up by three points (21-18). After that point, NDC tied the game once, but could not take the lead before halftime.

At the intermission, the Mountain Lions led 49-40. In the first half, Concord went 11-for-19 from three point range (58-percent). Hamlet and Johnson both hit four threes.
NDC scored the first nine points of the second half to tie the game at 49, including six points from Vorhees.

Trey Radcliffe hit a layup with 10:26 remaining in regulation to tie the game at 59. Notre Dame then jumped back on top.

Freshman Halil Parks hit back-to-back three pointers. Senior Oliver Megins knocked down a three pointer, following two Concord free throws. Vorhees then scored a layup and was fouled. His free throw put Notre Dame up by 10 points (71-61) with 7:47 remaining in the contest.

The rest of the way, the closest CU could get was six points.

"I thought that our seniors did a great job in the second half, obviously Will (Vorhees) scoring the basketball but KT (Taylor) did a great job on BJ Hamlet," said Koenig. "The guys across the board did a way better job defensively guarding the three, making guys dribble. They've got a lot of guys that can shoot the ball and we really needed to get them off of the line. Ollie (Megins) came in and gave us a huge spark off the bench. Halil Parks steadied the ship and took care of the basketball, hit a couple shots played really good defense. It was an all-around team win. I'm very happy with the effort."

For Concord, Hamlet scored 28 points and went 10-for-20 from the field and 6-for-12 from three. Johnson had 14 points, Radcliffe recorded six assists and five rebounds. As a team, the Mountain Lions shot 21-percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 36-percent, overall, and 40-percent from three point range.

"The biggest thing is we executed better on defense. Our guys played their hearts out and really played better in the second half. Our defense held Concord had 27 points in the second half and that team can score," Koenig said.

Along with his 33 points, Vorhees grabbed 10 rebounds and made 15 of his 18 free throws. Senior Kyauta Taylor scored 11 points and had seven rebounds, while junior Ja'Sean Lewis added eight points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Halil Parks had 11 points. The Falcons shot 80-percent from the free throw line. They shot 50-percent from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 49-percent.

"We realize where our mismatches are, and our advantage on this team is our post play and in this game there was really no reason for me to be taking threes," Vorhees said. "We just needed to get it down in the paint and that forces them to collapse down on me and that opened up shooters all over the floor."

Vorhees also said that he feels comfortable at the free throw line.

"Coach Baab is the shooting coach on the team and he got me right (from the free throw line) a couple weeks ago."

The Falcons will play the University of Virginia's College at Wise on November 20, at home. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.