SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – On Monday evening, Notre Dame College played in the Murphy Gymnasium for the first time in the 2019-20 season, against non-conference foe, Edinboro University. After trailing by nine at halftime, Notre Dame came back and trailed by two with 15-seconds remaining. However, Edinboro put the game away and won, 70-66.

Both teams started a bit sluggish with Notre Dame missing a pair of three pointers and committed a turnover, before making a shot. But when their first shot went down, NDC put together an 8-0 run. Freshman Jordan Burton made a layup and then a three pointer before senior Larenz Thurman knocked down a three. The Falcons led 8-4, which would be their largest lead of the game.

After pushing the lead to 10-7 with a Bruce Hodges III layup, NDC struggled to score, going three minutes without a bucket. But, the Falcons defense stole the ball twice over that time and got right back into the contest. NDC closed within two points, 16-14, with 11:29 remaining in the first half.

Edinboro responded with an 11-3 run and quickly increased their lead to 10 points with 6:10 remaining in the half.

Then, it was Notre Dame's turn to respond. An offensive board and tip-in by junior Dae John Walker-Bey closed the Falcons' gap to three points, 27-24. The Falcons could not get any closer over the final three-and-a-half minutes of the first half, and EU put the final six points on the scoreboard to lead 33-24, at halftime.

Edinboro was shooting 39-percent from the field after 20 minutes, while NDC was shooting 30-percent. The two teams combined to make just seven three pointers. Notre Dame also had nine turnovers, while Edinboro had six.

"I don't know what it was, but we didn't come out like we needed to," said head coach Mark Richmond. "People know who Notre Dame is now and we're going to take everybody's best shot. We won the conference championship a year ago. People are going to come ready to play and we need to match that, if not exceed that. We didn't do that."

Looking to work faster in the second half, the two teams traded buckets in the early stages. A 9-2 run, put NDC within striking distance, down 39-35, with 14:59 to go.

But, as they had done throughout the night, the Fighting Scots responded with a run of their own, pushing the advantage to 14 points, 55-41, with 10:45 remaining.

Sophomore Levi Frankland sparked the home team with a layup at the 9:02-mark and a steal at the defensive end. One minute later, he was slashing to the paint again, connecting on a layup and bringing NDC within 10 points, 55-45.

Including the aforementioned Frankland steal, NDC picked Edinboro's pocket four times in the final nine minutes of the contest. Hodges had a steal, which led to a Thurman three pointer, then Scarberry stole the ball and pushed it up ahead to Thurman for a layup. From the 6:55-mark until the 3:51-mark, Thurman scored nine of the Falcons ten points.

The crowd erupted when Scarberry stole the ball again, this time leading the break and slamming it down with both hands as a defender chased him down. Notre Dame trailed by three points, 62-59, with just under three minutes to play.

Thurman would cut the Edinboro lead to two points, twice, by knocking down clutch shots from the charity stripe. However, a pair of free throws by EU's Daylon Harris with one second on the clock, closed out the game.

"We battled in the second half and that was much better, but obviously our first half put us in a big gap and we were unable to overcome that," Richmond said.

Notre Dame's top scorer was Frankland, who had 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, with 15 of them coming in the second half. He also hauled in nine rebounds. Thurman finished with 17 points, scoring 14 in the final stanza, along with four assists. Hodges had a strong game with nine points, six rebounds and four steals. The Falcons had six steals, while turning the ball over just two times, in the second half. Those steals led to 12 points off turnovers in the second half. Notre Dame also dominated the game in fast break points, scoring 14 to Edinboro's two.

Edinboro was led by Anthony Coleman, who had 28 points, on 12 shots, nine rebounds and five steals. Jaryn Simpson added 14 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Although the Fighting Scots turned the ball over 10 times in the second half, they shot well, going 43-percent from the field, 50-percent from three and 88-percent from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes.

Notre Dame will play again at home, on Wednesday, against Wright State Lake University. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.