SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – After a slow start, Notre Dame College pulled away with a 20-4 run in the final four and-a-half minutes of the first half, leading to their 95-76 victory over Wheeling Jesuit University, on Wednesday evening.

Back-to-back threes by redshirt-junior Drew Scarberry to start the game and a three by sophomore Halil Parks gave NDC (12-5, 8-3 MEC) an 11-6 lead with 17:41 to go in the opening stanza.

Later, Wheeling Jesuit (2-15, 1-10 MEC) bounced back, knocking down three consecutive shots from long distance over a three minute span, to grab a 24-18 advantage with just under nine minutes remaining.

A layup by Wheeling Jesuit's Tariq Woody put Wheeling Jesuit ahead of the Falcons, 29-25 with 4:46 to go before halftime. After allowing that basket, everything began to click for the Falcons on offense, and their defense tightened.

Notre Dame then knocked down seven of their final eight shots, and two free throws, that they took in the first half. In fact, following a missed three pointer, the Falcons final seven field goals went through the net, leading to a 20-4 run. Redshirt-senior Will Vorhees went on a 10-0 run, by himself, when he hit two free throws, connected on back-to-back threes and made a layup. NDC made four three pointers during the run.

"I really wanted to get my three point shot going, I think that's something I've been struggling with all year and teams are starting to sag off and let me shoot," Vorhees mentioned. "For the betterment of the team, if I'm able to knock that down it makes our offense go a lot smoother."

"Halil gave us a huge lift tonight, Scarberry gave us a huge lift," head coach Tim Koenig said. "Again, defensively, we got stops and we were able to get out and run. I think the stops ignited our transition game. When those perimeter guys are making shots and they're helping Vorhees, life is good."

Notre Dame led 45-33 at the halftime break. Vorhees had 22 points on 8-of-14 (57-percent) shooting from the field. Parks added 10 points and five rebounds while Scarberry knocked down three triples.

It was more of the same for the Falcons in the second half. Scarberry opened the half with a three pointer and then Vorhees scored the next eight Notre Dame points with a three pointer, a layup and free throw and another layup.

"Usually when teams have big bodies like they had, I'll rely a little bit more on my outside game," Vorhees said. "I think I can get around most big guys at this level. I just try to use my speed advantage a little bit. Wheeling Jesuit's kind of been my kryptonite and for whatever reason I always seem to struggle with them. It's good to beat them and it's good to finally shoot well against them."

NDC grabbed their largest lead of the game when they went ahead by 31 points, 87-56, following a fastbreak layup by sophomore Cole Hayes with 5:38 to go in the game. They would extend their lead back to 31 points two additional times the rest of the way before the buzzer sounded on their 95-76 victory.

In the second half, Vorhees was nearly perfect from the field, shooting 7-for-9, 1-for-2 from three and he went 4-for-4 at the free throw line for 19 points. He set a new season-high with 41 points in the game, on 65-percent shooting, along with eight rebounds and two blocks.

In just his second start of the season for Notre Dame, Scarberry posted 18 points and made six three pointers. Parks had 20 points and eight rebounds while junior Bruce Hodges III only had two points but gave the Falcons energy which led to 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals. NDC shot 52-percent along with a 44-percent mark from beyond the three point line. They outrebounded Wheeling Jesuit, 39-27.

"He (Hodges) is really good, he does all the stuff that doesn't show up in the boxscore, like taking charges, his rotations, making the right passes," Koenig said. "He has really come on for us. And about Will, what can you say? The kid is a stud, he's been doing that his whole career. He is really turning the corner and playing absolutely great right now. Once he gets going, he's pretty tough. Guys found him in positions to score."

 "We need that from those guys (Hodges and Parks)," Vorhees explained. "This is not a one man show. We're a team at the end of the day so it's always good to see those guys go off. The more confidence everyone around me has, the better the team will be."

For Wheeling Jesuit, Franck Kamgain totaled 13 points, six assists and three steals. DeAndre Robinson also had 13 points on 71-percent shooting off the bench. Woody and Zach Collins each had ten points. The Cardinals shot 47-percent for the game and 36-percent from three.

The Falcons will take on Urbana University in the Murphy Gymnasium on January 26. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.