SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt-senior Will Vorhees scored a season-high 38 points and junior Larenz Thurman connected on six three pointers and 21 points in the second half, as Notre Dame College defeated Shepherd University, 87-78, on Thursday night.

The Falcons and Rams were locked in a tight battle through the first twelve and-a-half minutes. Between the 13:25-mark and the 8:29-mark in the first half, Vorhees was the Falcons offense, as he scored nine points in a row for Notre Dame. He was getting the ball under the basket for layups, had a dunk after driving to the hoop and made several jumpers of around 15 feet.

A 5-0 run in less than a minute gave Notre Dame (11-4, 7-2 MEC) a six point advantage, 24-18, with eight minutes remaining. That offensive run by Notre Dame set the tone for the rest of the contest.

Freshman Hamish Warden knocked down a three pointer with 3:07 remaining in the first half to push the NDC lead to 13 points, 39-26. With 2:20 left, Vorhees capped a 10-1 run with a free throw. The Falcons went into the halftime break ahead by a score of 45-34.

Vorhees scored nearly half of the Falcons points in the first 20 minutes of action. He had 22 points on 56-percent shooting and grabbed seven boards. Freshman Isaiah Sanders was the only other player in double-digits, with 11 points. Devin Smith led Shepherd with eight points.

"We wanted to start inside and then go out," said head coach Tim Koenig. "We just took what they gave us. If nobody on defense helps on Will Vorhees, we want to get it inside. But Shepherd helped on Will a lot in the second half, which opened up the perimeter for us."

Shepherd (9-6, 5-4 MEC), who came into the contest one game behind Notre Dame in the conference standings, did not have many answers to stop NDC at the start of the second half. In the first 40 seconds of the half, Vorhees had already connected on two layups. Thurman hit a three pointer to give Notre Dame a 54-37 lead with 17:18 remaining in the game.

Another 9-0 run pushed the Falcons' lead to 22 points, 77-55, with 6:02 left in the game, but that's when SU began their comeback.

A 17-6 run for the home team put them right back into the contest, down 11 points, 83-72. Reigning MEC Player of the Week Thomas Lang scored seven of the final nine points on that run for Shepherd. Lang also knocked down a three pointer with 37-seconds left to cut the deficit to seven points, but Notre Dame hung on to win, 87-78.

"It was a really good team win, we had contributions all over the roster," Koenig said. "Hamish (Warden) and Drew (Scarberry) did a nice job on defense and Daniel Atcheson came on for a couple minutes before halftime. Our defense let up late in the game and we turned it over a few times, but for 35 or 36 minutes, we were solid."

Vorhees had 16 points and seven rebounds in the second half for a total of 38 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in the game. He shot 62-percent from the field. This was his first game scoring over 33 points since he scored 48 against Urbana on February 25, 2017.

Thurman scored 21 of his 23 points for NDC, in the second half. Redshirt-junior Drew Scarberry hit two three pointers and now has 201 threes in his career, becoming the fourth player to reach 200 in program history. Notre Dame, who is now one game out of first in the conference, shot 50-percent from three point range in the second half. This is the first time since the 2015-16 season that NDC has defeated Shepherd.

Shepherd had four players score in double-digits, but they shot just 38-percent from the field.. Jon Preston came off the bench and scored 17 points and had nine rebounds. Lang added 16 points and knocked down four threes while Derek McKnight recorded 13 points. Winston Burgess, averaging 16 point-per-game, was held to eight points but did grab eight rebounds.

"Burgess did a nice job on the boards," said Koenig. "Burgess, McKnight and Lang can really play."

Notre Dame now has a big task ahead of them this weekend.

"The guys are happy right now and we'll enjoy the win tonight," Koenig mentioned. "But then it's on to Fairmont State and they are really good, first in the league. We've got our work cut out for us."

The Falcons will travel to Fairmont State University and battle the Fighting Falcons on January 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.