Erie, Pa. – Notre Dame College fought back late in the first half and kept the score close for much of the second, but lost to Mercyhurst University by a score of 86-77 on Saturday afternoon.

Notre Dame (3-8) scored the first points of the game on a three pointer by redshirt-sophomore Drew Scarberry. The Falcons led, 5-2, with 18:04 remaining in the first half.

Mercyhurst (5-4) took a 6-5 lead when Lorenzo Collier made a layup. MU used a 17-4 run from the 17:38 mark until the 12:49 mark to take a ten point lead, 19-9. The Lakers received seven points from Collier and six points from Ryan Roland, during the run.

"Mercyhurst has had a couple guys who were banged up but they're back now," head coach Tim Koenig said. "They were picked to finish near the top of the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) and I think they'll be there."

A three point shot was drilled by Malcolm Walters, which pushed the Mercyhurst lead to 12 points, 26-14, with 8:59 remaining.

After falling behind by 17 points, 33-16, with 6:30 to go before halftime, the Falcons worked hard to get back in the game.

Freshman Halil Parks and senior Kyauta Taylor each had a steal as the Falcons put together an 11-2 run and trailed by just eight points, 35-27. Taylor also had eight points on the offensive run.

Overall, in the last 4:20 of the first half, NDC had a 12-5 run, and trailed 40-31 at halftime. Taylor had 10 points at the half and senior Oliver Megins added seven points. The Falcons shot 46-percent from the field.

"We finished out the first half way better today," Koenig said. "That's something that we focused on and wanted to improve."

Parks hit a layup for NDC with 10:27 remaining in the game and that capped a 10-2 run making the score 49-43, in favor of the Lakers.

MU started to pull away shortly after Notre Dame's extended run and held their largest lead of the game at the 3:04-mark which was 18 points, 70-52.

NDC worked their way back and cut the deficit to single digits when Scarberry hit a three with 48-seconds remaining, making the score 78-69. The Falcons would get as close as seven points a couple of times, but were unable to overtake Mercyhurst.

"Defensively, we have to get better," Koenig mentioned. "We had chances to come back today but key turnovers in a couple big spots hurt us. Mercyhurst also made key baskets."

"Coming into the game, we talked about the rebounding margin, turnover margin and the transition game. Those all turned out to be big in today's game."

For the Falcons, Parks recorded 19 points, six rebounds and six assists, including 15 points and five assists in the second half. Megins also had 19 points, with 12 points coming in the second half. Megins shot 80-percent (8-for-10). Taylor had 14 points and sophomore Jack Kelsheimer added 12 points while going 3-for-4 from the field. NDC shot 47-percent, as a team.

For Mercyhurst, Collier had 29 points on 53-percent shooting (9-for-17) and he knocked down four three pointers. Walters added 23 points and nine rebounds. MU shot 50-percent, as a team, in the first half, and went 28-for-62 (45-percent) for the game. The Lakers shot 41-percent from three point range. They out-rebounded NDC 37-32.

The Falcons will play again in Erie, Pa. and take on Gannon University on December 19. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.