PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Notre Dame College jumped out to an 11-1 lead to begin the game and did not let up as they secured a 97-74 victory over Carlow University, on Wednesday night.

NDC (5-1) did not have seniors Will Vorhees or Angelo Cugini tonight, but they had other players step up.  Freshman Isaiah Sanders made his presence felt by scoring the first six points for NDC.

"Isaiah's playing really well," said head coach Tim Koenig. "He's gaining more confidence and we needed it tonight with two of our captains out."

After Carlow (1-8) climbed back into the game and cut the deficit to five points, 13-8, Notre Dame responded by scoring six consecutive points.

Later in the half, the Celtics' Swade Redman scored his eighth point of the game, with a three pointer at the 1:38-mark before halftime, which cut the Notre Dame lead to 33-30.

However, freshman Larenz Thurman hit a long three ball at the first half buzzer, which capped a 6-0 run. NDC led 39-30 at the halftime break.

The Falcons went on a 13-2 run within the first four minutes of the second half to go ahead, 52-32.

NDC increased their lead to 23 points, 86-63, as a timeout was called with 5:48 remaining in the contest. They would go on to win by a differential of 23 points, 97-74.

Sanders scored 13 points in the first half for Notre Dame and added 13 more in the second half to set a season-high 26 points, for the night. Sophomore Halil Parks had 14 points and junior Drew Scarberry added 13 points, including three, three pointers.

Koenig was also happy with the way his freshmen Jacob Sala, Hamish Warden and Maurice Carroll played with more playing time down low.

"We went with a smaller lineup, but Jacob, Hamish and Maurice stepped up and grabbed rebounds," he said. "It really was a good team win. We had a lot of guys take advantage of extended playing time."

Six games into the season, NDC is 3-0 on the road and 2-0 in neutral sites. Koenig spoke about what that means for the team, and is looking forward to the challenge next week.

"We have done a nice job away from home," he mentioned. "You try to approach everything the same on the road, but you know that's not always how it works. We had never shot in that gym (Carlow) before, but our defense and intensity kept us in the game tonight, especially in the first half. We know we can win in different environments, but we need to get better when we play Wheeling. We've never beat them on the road since joining NCAA Division II so it will be a great opportunity."

The Falcons will travel to play Wheeling Jesuit University on November 28. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m.