DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – In Saturday afternoon's matchup, Notre Dame College closed out the final three-and-a-half minutes of the first half on a 13-0 run and led by three points at the halftime break. But, Mercy College responded and outscored the Falcons by eight points in the second half to win, 80-75.

Mercy started the game about as hot as they could, shooting 6-for-8 (75-percent) in the first four minutes to take a 14-4 lead. The Mavericks' lead would get as large as 12 points before the Falcons could put together a counter punch.

A layup by freshman Jacob Sala at the 13:43-mark was the beginning of a 9-2 run for the Falcons, which lasted until the 10:54-mark. Following a layup by freshman Jordan Burton, the Falcons' deficit was down to five points, 18-13.

Mercy pushed the lead to nine points, 24-15, with nine minutes remaining in the first half and then pushed it to 10 points, 32-22, with just under four minutes to go. That's when the NDC defense became very stingy.

After MC scored with 3:51 on the first half clock, the Mavericks did not score again. Senior Drew Scarberry took the ball and made a three pointer. After a steal by Burton and an offense rebound by senior Bruce Hodges III, Scarberry reloaded and connected on another three, cutting the Mercy lead to four points.

During the 13-0 run to close out the half, Scarberry scored his six points, Frankland had three points, senior Daniel Lott scored two and Hodges and Owens both hit one free throw. The Falcons' defense also forced four turnovers during the run and they led 35-32 at the half. NDC went into the locker room shooting 50-percent. On the other side, Nakeem Hamilton led all scorers with 12 points, but Mercy only shot 39-percent, as a team.

To start the second half, Scarberry knocked down a shot from long range, increasing the NDC lead to six points, but that would be the Falcons' largest lead. A three pointer by Lamont Williams Jr. gave Mercy a one-point lead with 13:56 remaining in the contest.

Two minutes later, MC would take the lead for good when Hamilton converted on a layup to break a 47-47 tie with 11:52 on the clock. Mercy would go on to lead by 11 points, their biggest lead of the game, late in the second half. Frankland hit a three pointer at the buzzer to make it a five-point game, as the final score was 80-75.

NDC's Drew Scarberry scored 19 points in the second half and is now averaging 14.3 points in the second half of the last three games. He finished the game with 25 points on 67-percent shooting and 60-percent from three-point range. The senior has now connected on six 3-pointers in back-to-back contests. Frankland recorded his first career double-double as he had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Burton added 13 points and three assists. The Falcons shot 51-percent for the game.

The Mavericks outscored the Falcons 48-40 in the second stanza. Mercy shot 55-percent in the second half, including 50-percent from long range. Hamilton and Dondre Barnes each had 12 points in the final 20 minutes while Barnes shot 83-percent. Hamilton would finish with 24 points and nine rebounds. Barnes had 19 points and six assists in the game.

Notre Dame now has a break during the holidays and will pick back up on January 5, against Salem University. The home game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.