SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College outscored West Virginia State University 53-50 in the second half, but the comeback effort falls short as the Yellow Jackets beat the Falcons by a score of 98-86, on Wednesday night.

The two teams were locked in a close, low scoring start to the first half. NDC took a five point lead, 14-9, with 12:36 remaining after freshman Halil Parks knocked down two free throws.

West Virginia State (11-7, 9-4 MEC) then started to take control over the next six and-a-half minutes. At the six minute mark, WVSU went up by 15 points, 36-21, as Pat Johnson-Agwu dunked the ball.

Notre Dame (5-14, 3-10 MEC) went into the halftime break trailing by 15 points, 48-33. Parks had 13 points for NDC while Johnson-Agwu added 13 points for West Virginia State in the opening 20 minutes.

The start of the second half looked to give the Falcons a boost, as they were able to get to the basket and scored six of the first nine points in the half, which cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 51-39.

The momentum would swing the other way and when Isaiah Noel hit a three pointer for West Virginia State with 13:36 to go, it capped a 17-2 run by the Yellow Jackets, who led by 27 points, 68-41. But the Falcons would slowly work their way back.

A 14-3 offensive run for Notre Dame between the 5:29-mark and the 1:07-mark cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 10 points, 94-84. During that stretch, Parks scored nine points.

The comeback, however, would not be enough as the deficit was never cut to single digits in the final minute of the contest.

After the game, head coach Tim Koenig spoke about taking care of the basketball after the turnovers began to pile up for NDC.

"We turned the ball over way too much in the first half and we turned the ball over, in stretches, in the second half. If we could just take care of the ball against their pressure and get past that initial wave, we got any shot we wanted. Obviously, it's easier said than done, but we have to take care of the ball."

"When we turn the ball over, that leads to run out dunks and layups, there's no defense for that," he said. "Our defense starts with taking care of the ball and taking good shots. We'll have two good practices and we'll be better (on Saturday)."

The Falcons had a strong offensive second half, with senior Kyauta Taylor scoring 14 of his 21 points in the second stanza and shooting 60-percent. He also had eight rebounds and four steals in the game. Parks scored 26 points in the game and went 13-for-14 at the free throw line. Senior Oliver Megins had 13 points and nine rebounds while redshirt-junior Angelo Cugini added nine points and 13 rebounds. NDC out-rebounded WVSU 46-43.

Noel had 13 of his 19 points, in the second half for West Virginia State. Johnson-Agwu scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and had five steals. Robert Fomby added 13 points and nine rebounds. The Yellow Jackets, who have won five straight games, shot 48-percent in the game. They also scored 54 points in the paint.

The Falcons will travel to play the University of Charleston on January 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.