SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – To wrap up a close first half, senior Drew Scarberry beat the buzzer with a three pointer that gave Notre Dame College a lead that they did not relinquish. Four players scored in double figures and six players hauled in at least six rebounds for the Falcons, as they were able to take down Salem University by a score of 80-67, on Sunday afternoon.

Salem is not a stranger to Mountain East Conference opponents, as they had played four games against MEC foes entering Sunday and held a 3-1 record in those matchups. But, Notre Dame was looking to change that trend.

"[Salem's] a tough team," Scarberry said. "They've beat a few teams out of our conference who are pretty good. Being able to take this win and learn from it and carry it into the next few games is going to be huge for us."

Throughout much of the first half, neither team could expand their lead over three points. A three pointer by Salem's Fonz Hale, with 6:28 on the clock, gave the Tigers the largest lead of the first half, 28-24.

That did not last long as the Falcons got a three from Scarberry, caused two turnovers and then took the lead on a triple from senior Daniel Lott. Those baskets gave the Falcons a 30-28 advantage with 3:40 remaining.

SU came back and took a two point lead after they went on a 7-2 run, with under two minutes to go before the half. However, another three pointer by Scarberry at the buzzer gave the Falcons a 39-38 halftime lead.

"That was a tough shot, I'm glad my teammates had confidence in me," Scarberry mentioned. "It was a big momentum changer for us right there. I think coming out in the second half, we hit a couple shots right off the bat, which kept the momentum going."

Scarberry finished the first stanza with 14 points on 50-percent shooting. Freshman Jordan Burton helped in all aspects with four points, five rebounds and five assists.

"It was a key for Jordan to distribute today because Salem has been playing predominately zone and he ran the show with Larenz [Thurman] out," head coach Mark Richmond said. "He played 40 minutes and was running on fumes, but he made some key baskets and plays, late."

Notre Dame came out on fire in the first six minutes of the second half. The home team shot 6-for-9 from the field and pushed their lead to 15 points, 55-40, by the 14:01 mark. In that same amount of time, Salem shot 1-for-9. Counting the three-point bucket at the end of the first half and the first six minutes of the second, Notre Dame put together a 19-2 run, which essentially put the game away.

The Tigers did make a second half run, which cut their deficit to seven points, but that was close as they could get. After falling down by 18 points, 68-50, Salem roared back and scored 11 straight points. Jordan Forbes was the main catalyst as he scored nine of the points during the run. The scoreboard read 68-61 with 3:55 remaining in the contest.

"We knew they would make a late run and we held it together," Richmond said. "I thought the 1-3-1 [zone] was good for us, taking away penetration and making them shoot over top of us."

The Falcons then began to knock down shots again, which included going 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the final four minutes. NDC finished the game shooting 83-percent (20-for-24) from the free throw stripe.

"We worked a lot on the free throw shooting, because we have had a few games come down to that," Richmond said. "We'll continue to work on that."

In the second half, senior Deanthony Owens had 13 points, shooting 3-of-5 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore Levi Frankland went 3-of-4 from the field and 2-of-3 from the three point line for 12 second half points. Owens would finish the game with 18 points and eight rebounds while Frankland totaled 14 points and seven rebounds. Scarberry led the team with 21 points and grabbed eight boards. Lott scored 11 points, making all three 3-pointers attempted, and had six rebounds.

"All we needed was a win to get the ball rolling," Owens explained. "We did that when we beat Davis & Elkins, the ball was rolling, then we took a step back when we lost to Wesleyan. But, I feel like our morale is really good, our chemistry is there. It's a new year."

Senior Bruce Hodges III also stepped up scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds, with three of them coming on the offensive end.

"Bruce has kind of been that guy for us this year, the glue guy," Richmond said. "He finds ways to make plays. He had the late steal and then saved the ball. He made some key baskets tonight and made a key post-up, late. Bruce wants to win and will do whatever it takes."

NDC out-rebounded Salem 48-31, overall, and 13-7 on the offensive glass. That led to eight more second chance points than Salem. Notre Dame also held SU to 32-percent shooting from three-point range for the game and 15-percent in the second half.

"Rebounding is a key for us," Richmond explained. "We knew they weren't a huge team, we matched up pretty well with them. We knew we had to win the rebounding battle."

The Falcons travel to Frostburg State University to play the Bobcats on January 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.