SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Despite a career day from freshman Halil Parks, Notre Dame College lost to the University of Charleston by a score of 103-76, on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles (8-3, 4-2 MEC) got off to a quick start and put the first four points on the scoreboard. Notre Dame (3-7, 1-5) did not hit their first basket until the 16:35-mark when redshirt-sophomore Drew Scarberry knocked down a three pointer.

The Golden Eagles then went on a 16-0 run and led the game by 17 points, 20-3, with 13:16 left to go in the first half. Charleston hit four threes on that run.

From that point, NDC struggled to get back into the game. With 7:54 remaining, Charleston's lead had expanded to 20 points, 32-12, after Jordan Smith hit a layup.

In the final 1:38 of the first half, the only points came from the Golden Eagles' Lamont McManus who stole the ball and hit a layup, putting the University of Charleston on top 50-28 going into the halftime break.

Kier Anderson scored 15 points in the first half for UC and Malik Young had 10 points. Parks recorded 11 points and six rebounds. NDC shot just 31-percent from the field in the first half.

"Halil (Parks) did a nice job. He hit the glass," said head coach Tim Koenig.

UC went on a 7-4 run to start the second half and pushed their lead to 25 points when Shaq Speights scored on a layup. Charleston led 57-32 with 17:18 remaining in the game.

After falling behind by 30 points, the Falcons went on a short 8-2 run. Redshirt-junior Angelo Cugini scored six of the points on the run. With 11:04 remaining, NDC trailed 74-50.

Parks knocked down a three pointer at the 7:37-mark to cut the Charleston lead to 21 points, 82-61. However, that was as close as NDC could get the rest of the way.

According to Koenig, Charleston played their game and did not do anything that shocked the Falcons.

"They played a 2-3 zone (defense) and they stayed in it. Normally they play the majority in man-to-man, and mix in their 2-3 zone, but today they stayed in their 2-3," Koenig mentioned. "We had good looks, but we weren't making them pay. They did exactly what we thought they would do, they just executed way better than we did."

Six players scored in double-digits for Charleston. Anderson led the team with 24 points and shot 69-percent (9-for-13) from the field. Lamont McManus had 19 points and his teammate Jonathan Tshibuy scored 10 points and hauled in 11 rebounds. Speights recorded 14 points and four steals. UC shot 60-percent in the game and 65-percent in the second half.

For Notre Dame, Parks went 12-for-19 from the field to score 30 points, a career high, and he also grabbed eight offensive rebounds. His 12 total rebounds were also a career high. Cugini shot 50-percent (5-for-10) from the field and finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Kyauta Taylor missed all four of the shots that he took and was held scoreless for the first time in his collegiate career. Koenig said that Taylor was playing with an ankle injury all game. The Falcons shot 40-percent from the field and 31-percent from three point range.

Koenig knows there are spots where the Falcons need to improve and he is looking forward to the next game.

"I want us to keep the ball out of the paint on defense," he said. "That's the biggest change that we've talked about, at length. I want us to defend and rebound. Offensively, I think we need to play with more pace, pass the ball ahead, run the floor, play it ahead. The biggest thing is protect our paint, defend, rebound and get defensive stops. That's the biggest thing that needs to change… We've got a great opportunity tomorrow, playing a Division I school. We've got to guard the ball and defensively, we just have to get the stops."

Notre Dame will make the short trip to Cleveland tomorrow, to take on Cleveland State University in an exhibition game. The tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.