CUMBERLAND, Md. – After falling down by six points with 5:03 remaining, Notre Dame College's defense held Frostburg State University to four points over the final five minutes of the game. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Frostburg State did just enough to hold on for a 72-69 win on Wednesday evening.

Frostburg State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after NDC missed their first two shots. That all changed quickly following an FSU turnover. Senior Bruce Hodges III made a layup with just under 19 minutes on the clock and the Falcons took off.

From the 18:56-mark to the 11:47-mark in the first half, Notre Dame shot 8-for-10 from the field and built a ten-point lead, 20-10. The Bobcats, on the other hand, went 2-for-10 in that time.

The Frostburg State defense is at the top of the MEC, in terms of opponent field percentage, and that began to show for a stretch in the first half. The Falcons still led by ten points with 9:18 remaining before halftime, but an FSU 16-6 run tied the contest at 31 with 3:58 on the clock.

Notre Dame jumped back ahead by four points after Hodges and sophomore Levi Frankland hit back-to-back shots, but Frostburg State pulled even to end the half, 35-35, setting up for an exciting final 20 minutes.

For NDC, senior Deanthony Owens had nine points and seven rebounds in 17 first half minutes. On the other side, Joe Adedayo made three 3-pointers and totaled 15 points in 16 minutes for the Bobcats.

At home, after scoring the final four points of the first half, Frostburg State put the first five points of the second half on the board. Notre Dame responded as senior Larenz Thurman and redshirt-senior Drew Scarberry combined to make three free throws, freshman Jordan Burton connected on a shot and then Scarberry made a layup to tie the game at 42.

An old fashioned three-point play was completed with a basket and a free throw make by Daniel Alexander of the Bobcats, but the Falcons went back on the attack. A 6-0 run gave NDC their largest lead of the second stanza, going ahead by three points, 48-45, with 13:06 left in the contest.

Following that run, the lead changed hands seven times until Frostburg State grabbed the lead for good with 8:59 remaining. The Bobcats never pushed the lead above six points and Notre Dame's defense stepped up down the stretch, keeping the Falcons in the game until the final buzzer.

NDC did not allow their opponent to score for nearly four minutes and the Falcons closed within two points, 68-66, with 1:22 on the clock. Then, with seven seconds left, Frankland was fouled after he made a shot. He connected on the free throw, cutting the Bobcats' lead to one. Alexander put FSU up by three points with two free throws and just four seconds on the clock. Burton took the ball and put up a contested three point shot in the final seconds, but it did not fall.

Owens had 13 points and five rebounds in the second half, finishing with his first double-double as a Falcon. He scored 22 points for the game and grabbed 12 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds. He shot 50-percent from the floor. Scarberry scored 12 points and hauled in six rebounds, while Thurman came off the bench for 10 points and six rebounds. Notre Dame out-rebounded FSU, 41-36, marking the fifth consecutive game that the Falcons have cleaned the glass better than their opponent.

For Frostburg State, Adedayo continued to hurt NDC with 14 second half points and finished with 29 points in the game. The Bobcats had 40 bench points. Alexander, who came into the game second in the MEC with an average of 22 points per game, was held to 17 points along with eight rebounds.

The Falcons will come home to play Fairmont State University on January 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.