SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College went against possibly the best NCAA Division II defense that they have faced this season, according to head coach Tim Koenig. NDC was able to pull away in the second half in a 73-59 victory over Gannon University, on Saturday afternoon.

The first 20 minutes of action was a bit of a struggle for the Falcons (8-3) on the offensive end, and the defense by Gannon was a major influence.

At the first media timeout with 14:39 remaining, Gannon (3-6) led 6-4. The Falcons took their first lead of the game at 9:45-mark in the first, after Angelo Cugini hauled in an offensive rebound following a missed three, and put it back up for a layup.

Gannon never fell too far behind in the first half, and went on a 7-1 run over the span of two and-a-half minutes to tie the game. With 5:07 to go, the score was 20-20.

From that point on, Gannon got a full dose of Will Vorhees as the Falcons big man was able start scoring by driving and either making layups or getting fouled. He scored 10 points during the Falcons 12-2 run, in the final five minutes of the half. Four of his points in that span came from layups and four came from the free throw line.

The halftime score was 32-24. NDC was held to 32 points in the first half for the first time since November 13, when they scored 31 points in the first stanza against Roberts Wesleyan College. Frank Webb Jr. led the Golden Knights with 11 points and Vorhees led the Falcons with 12 points and six rebounds.

Koenig knew what Gannon's defense would do, but he was pleased with his own team's ability to stop Gannon.

"I was very impressed with our defense," he said. "Our defense kept us in the game, when we couldn't make shots in the first half. We're maturing, we have had games where we didn't shoot well and we've had to play catch up. We went into the half up eight (points), after shooting 1-of-19 from three. That's unheard of."

Notre Dame quickly increased their lead after halftime. Following a made three pointer by Larenz Thurman, the Falcons' defense forced a turnover. On the other end, Vorhees put up a short jumper that bounced around the rim and Isaiah Sanders came flying over for a put-back dunk to energize the entire gym. NDC led 37-26 with 18:14 remaining in the game.

Sanders took flight, again, two minutes later and slammed another tip-in following a missed three by Thurman. That dunk gave NDC a 44-32 lead.

NDC led by as many as 18 points in the second half. They shot 48-percent from the field and 40-percent from three point range in the final 20 minutes.

Between the 14:22-mark and 10:31-mark, Vorhees was nearly unstoppable. He scored 10 points, making five shots in that span and missing just one. He had 20 points and five rebounds in the second half, finishing with 32 points, 11 rebounds, six offensive rebounds and three blocks. He shot 46-percent.

Thurman connected on just two shots from the field and four free throws, but he still helped the team with nine points and eight assists.

"Their on-ball pressure, their defense is really good and Larenz handled the ball for 35 minutes and he did pretty well if you ask me," Koenig mentioned. "He didn't have a great shooting night, but we found a way to get the win."

Sanders had 11 points while Cugini added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Notre Dame also did a very good job on Gannon's leading scorer Frank Webb Jr. He had scored eight points in the second half and 19 in the game, but when he checked back in with 6:38 to go in the game, he was shut down and did not score again.

"He's (Webb) really good," Koenig said. "He played at West Virginia State a couple years ago and he was one of the best players in the league. He's coming back from injury, but the guy can really play. We gave early help, trying to keep him out of the lane and make him make shots. We wanted to run him off the line and but then have early help to keep him out of the paint. We really wanted him in that 15-to-19 foot range to shoot garbage shots. Our guys executed really well."

The rebounding number was the same on both sides as the teams recorded 39 boards. In Koenig's mind, that was a major plus.

"They've (Gannon) had games where they outrebound teams by 20. That was a key and our guys worked their tails off on the glass. Obviously, Will and Angelo led the way, but Hamish Warden comes in and keeps their big time rebounders off the glass. It was a group effort."

The Falcons will play next, on the road, against Lake Erie College. The game is scheduled for January 5 at 3 p.m.