SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Coming off an emotional win on Thursday, Notre Dame College was on fire through the first half, shooting the ball at a 62-percent mark. West Virginia Wesleyan College rallied back in the second half to force overtime and scored 17 points in the extra period to win, 101-95, on Saturday.

Following the tip-off, both teams went back-and-forth in the first minute and a half. West Virginia Wesleyan's Braeden McGrew hit a three pointer, NDC's senior Deanthony Owens finished off a layup, Ross Young hit a jumper for Wesleyan and then sophomore Levi Frankland connected on a three pointer for Notre Dame. The game was tied at five with 18:44 to go in the first half.

The game started to slow down following a couple misses, and almost two minutes later, Frankland knocked down another three to put NDC ahead 8-5. The Falcons never looked back, leading the final 17 minutes of the first stanza.

Between the 11:17-mark and the 7:11-mark in the first half, Notre Dame put 15 consecutive points on the scoreboard and pushed their lead to 20 points, 36-16. Frankland led the way with two three pointers during the run. He would finish the first half shooting 6-for-6, including 5-for-5 from three-point range, for a total of 17 points.

Notre Dame pushed the lead to 21 points late in the first half, but a layup by Dusan Vicentic closed the Bobcats' deficit to 19 points as the teams headed to their locker rooms.

NDC led 50-31 after the first 20 minutes, shooting 62-percent from the floor and 63-percent from three. They made 10 three pointers in the first half and shared the ball with 12 assists. Along with Frankland, senior Drew Scarberry (12) and Owens (10) also scored in double digits. The Falcons' defense was also very good, holding WVWC to a 35-percent field goal percentage and the Bobcats went 3-for-18 from behind the three-point line.

"We've been trying to sell [the players on] protecting our home court, along with guarding and defending. When you get stops and rebounds, you can get out and run and have a little bit of fun by sharing the ball," said head coach Mark Richmond. "I thought that's what we did in the first half."

To start the second half, Frankland missed a three-point shot, but Owens was there to clean it up and put the layup in, pushing the lead back to 21 points, 52-31. But, the Bobcats put together a run that foreshadowed how the final 20 minutes would go. Over a three-and-a-half-minute span, Wesleyan outscored the Falcons, 13-4. After a successful jumper by Luka Petrovic, Notre Dame's lead was reduced to 12 points, 56-44, with 16:22 remaining.

Another quick 8-0 run by Wesleyan, cut the gap to eight points with 12:55 to go. Then, with 5:10 on the clock in the second half, a tip-in by Ross Young was the beginning of a 10-0 run that gave WVWC a 79-78 lead.

"I thought we did a nice job of guarding in the first half," Richmond explained. "Then, for whatever reason, we let our guard down and we lost all our discipline. We let them throw it into the post whenever they wanted, as that happened, it caused our defense to collapse and then they kicked it out and hit shots. They took advantage of us being a little bit smaller."

The Falcons did not go away and when NDC was trailing 84-81, they turned to Owens to knock down a long three pointer, which tied the contest with 11-seconds on the clock.

West Virginia Wesleyan led for nearly the entire overtime period and closed out a 101-95 win. The Bobcats shot 63-percent in the second half, 62-percent from three-point range, and shot 50-percent from the floor in overtime. They also made 21-of-23 free throws after halftime.

For the game, Notre Dame shot 47-percent from the floor and 41-percent from three. Owens had 27 points and nine rebounds while Scarberry totaled 24 points, making six three pointers, and six rebounds. Frankland finished with 21 points, on 57-percent shooting, six rebounds and five assists. The Falcons out-rebounded WVWC, 41-35.

For Wesleyan, Vicentic had 27 points, shooting 75-percent, and nine rebounds. Ross Young added 24 points, on 64-percent shooting, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Falcons will go back on the road and play Mercy College on December 21. The game is scheduled to start 2 p.m.