PAINESVILLE, Ohio – A close game that included eight ties and seven lead changes, came down to a late second half surge that gave Lake Erie College an 86-78 win over Notre Dame College, on Saturday afternoon.

Lake Erie (8-6) was hitting shots right after tip-off, making their first four shots and grabbing a 9-5 lead. However, the Falcons (8-4) kept themselves in the game by shooting 50-percent from the field and from three point range through the 11:30-mark in the first half.

Junior Bruce Hodges III was a big part of the NDC run which would give them their first lead of the game. He entered the contest with 17:15 to go and a minute later, he assisted on a jumper and then hit a three pointer to tie the game at 12. Two minutes later, he grabbed back-to-back steals and then hit a three to give NDC a 17-14 advantage, their first of the game.

The Storm then jumped back out to the lead and carried it for a while. The next time Notre Dame would regain the lead was at the 2:38-mark when redshirt-senior Angelo Cugini connected on a layup to make the score 35-33.

Notre Dame held a three point lead, twice, in the final two and-a-half minutes, but LEC bounced back and James Erron tied the game at 40 with 32-seconds remaining.

At halftime, the score was still tied. Redshirt-senior Will Vorhees led the team with 13 points on 50-percent shooting. Hodges had 12 points, including two threes. For Lake Erie, Gabe Kynard had 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The Storm shot 50-percent in the half.

An 11-0 run, which began five and-a-half minutes into the second half, gave Notre Dame new life. From the 15:29-mark to the 13:27-mark, the Falcons got six points from Vorhees, a three pointer by redshirt-junior Drew Scarberry and a layup by Hodges. NDC held their largest lead of the game, 55-49.

Notre Dame did not relinquish their lead until the eight minute mark when David Dunnigan's layup gave the Storm a one point lead. However, the Falcons' junior Larenz Thurman and Curgini hit back-to-back threes, to retake a 65-60 lead with 7:05 remaining in the game.

That's when LEC started their run. They knocked down four of their next five three pointers that they took which led to a 12-2 run, and a five point lead. With 2:09 remaining, the lead had increased to ten, 79-69, after Lake Erie hit three consecutive layups.

For the Falcons, Vorhees scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the second half. He finished the game with 25 points, on 59-percent shooting, and 16 rebounds. Thurman finished with 16 points, including 11 in the second half, and six assists. Hodges had 14 bench points.

Kynard led the Storm with 30 points on 77-percent shooting and four made three pointers. Erron James added 20 points. Brogan Scott and Dunnigan had 13 and 12 points, respectively. Lake Erie shot 50-percent for the game and had 40 points in the paint.

The rest of the season will be conference matchups for Notre Dame and it begins with Glenville State College on January 10 in Murphy Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.