FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Senior Will Vorhees scored the most important of his 29 points, in the final seconds when he knocked down a game-winning jumper to give Notre Dame College a 77-75 victory over Slippery Rock University, on Friday evening.

As both teams took the court for the first time this season, the Rock and the Falcons went back-and-forth in the initial seven minutes of the contest. In those seven minute, five lead changes took place.

Vorhees immediately made his presence felt, scoring seven of Notre Dame's nine points to begin the game. However, Julius Palmer and Jared Armstrong knocked down back-to-back threes to give SRU a 14-9 advantage with 12:49 remaining in the first half. That five point lead would turn out to be their largest lead in the game.

NDC grabbed the lead back with 9:45 to go, as freshman Kameron Harris hit a three pointer. Notre Dame held a 19-16 advantage, at that point, and would only give the lead up once more before halftime. And at the half, the Falcons led 36-34.

At halftime, Vorhees had 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Senior Angelo Cugini added nine rebounds and Harris scored nine points.

Micah Till led Slippery Rock with 12 points while Palmer recorded seven points and five rebounds.

To begin the second half, SRU's Nolan Gerald tied the game with a pair of free throws. Notre Dame then took off, putting together a 16-8 run and going ahead by a score of 52-44 with 13:16 to go in the game. Isaiah Sanders had 10 points during that run.

Head coach Tim Koenig spoke about Slippery Rock battling back before halftime and also about his team's strong start to the second half.

"Slippery Rock is really good at hitting the offensive glass and they got second opportunities. Micah Till hit shots for them," he said. "We started rebounding and that led to some transition buckets. We finished possessions."

Trailing by eight, the Rock climbed back into the game and tied the contest at 52. But, NDC turned this back around with a 10-1 run, and had their largest lead of the game at 62-53.

The three point ball kept Slippery Rock in contention and after Till knocked down a three pointer with 5:12 to go, the game was tied at 66.

The final five minutes became a sprint to the finish. With under a minute left, NDC led 75-73. Slippery Rock's Amante Britt missed a layup but then Sanders turned the ball over.

Slippery Rock took the ball inside on their next possession and a nice dump off pass from Armstrong in the paint led to a dunk by Palmer, tying the game at 75.

The Falcons took the ball down the floor and called a timeout. Following the break in action, Vorhees caught a pass at the top of the key. He faked right to shake his defender and took a dribble to the left, one step inside the three point line. He sunk the shot with three seconds remaining.

"It's a growing experience," Koenig said, of the close finish. "We turned the ball over and gave up a dunk. Then we used a little 'Iverson' cut action and got it into our best player's hands and he hit the shot. The player's make plays."

For the Falcons, Vorhees had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the second half and finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. He was 9-for-16 from the floor. Cugini had 13 second half points, finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 7-for-8 from the field. Sanders scored 16 points. The Falcons shot extremely well, going 55-percent from the field and 46-percent from three point range. Nine players saw time for NDC, but the rotation could change, depending on the game, according to Koenig.

"Every game is different and the rotation is going to be different," he mentioned. "Today we went with more of a three forward lineup but things can change tomorrow."

Till scored 19 of his 31 points in the second half for Slippery Rock. He also finished with four three pointers made and seven rebounds. Armstrong (11 points) was the only other player in double-figures in scoring. Slippery Rock hauled in 34 rebounds and 17 of them were of the offensive variety.

Notre Dame will play in the Conference Challenge again tomorrow, against California University of Pennsylvania. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.