SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College's offense came to life in the second half on Saturday, scoring 46 points and making 20 free throws to down Frostburg State University, 77-68. With the win, the Falcons have pulled into a tie with the Bobcats in the MEC standings as both teams walk away in eighth place.

The Falcons honored their seniors before taking the floor. The crowd thanked Daniel Lott, Deanthony Owens, Larenz Thurman, Bruce Hodges III, Drew Scarberry and Marek Hulva for their time at NDC. The players were also given their 2019 MEC Tournament Championship rings prior to the contest.

After a few rough possessions to start the game, Notre Dame got their first four points, and the lead, from Owens on back-to-back possessions. He led the team with eight points and six rebounds in the first half.

I was able to provide a spark for the team and get rebounds, do the things I was supposed to do," Owens said. "I was hitting shots, which is good, but I am more concerned about winning."

The lead changed 14 times in the first half of the game and the largest lead for both teams was four points. After falling down by four points with 2:21 to go before halftime, Hodges would settle into the paint and hit two layups over the final 2:05, tying the game at 31.

NDC went into the locker room shooting just 37-percent compared to Frostburg State's 50-percent shooting. Notre Dame took nine more shots than FSU, which allowed the two teams to be even at 13 made field goals.

Frostburg State did come out of the locker room with some energy. An 8-4 run over the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half put the Bobcats in front 39-35. Every basket during the run was inside the paint, with two layups, a tip-in and a short jumper.

The Falcons called timeout with 17:13 remaining in the game. Head Coach Mark Richmond saw his team make some small adjustments, giving them the necessary push to take the lead and, eventually, get the win.

"We wanted to force [Frostburg State] to shoot jump shots and then we had to go rebound it," he said. "We found ways to do that and I thought our team defense was much batter in the second half. We packed the paint, got back and didn't give as many runouts and baskets in transition. I thought our 1-3-1 [zone] took some of their aggressiveness away and then we were able to go back to man-to-man and we kept them in front better than we did in that first half."

On the next possession, an offensive rebound allowed freshman Jordan Burton to knock down a three pointer on a second chance opportunity. Notre Dame had 12 second chance points in the final 20 minutes of the game.

When Notre Dame was on defense, Hodges stole the ball, which led to a foul and a successful pair of free throws by Drew Scarberry. That gave NDC a 40-39 lead with 16:17 on the clock.

Over the next two minutes, four lead changes occurred. Following a block by Scarberry, sophomore Levi Frankland ran down the floor and made a layup, which gave Notre Dame a 45-43 advantage with 14:17 to go. That lead change became significant, because NDC never trailed again after that point.

Between the 12:07-mark and the 8:46-mark, the Falcons went on a 9-0 run. They would increase their lead to double-digits, 73-62, when Lott knocked down two free throws with 1:55 on the clock.

Owens and Scarberry combined to go 14-for-16 at the free throw line, while the team shot 92-percent. The Falcons' 23 made free throws marks the highest number in a game this season.

"I was proud of the way our guys locked in at the free throw line," Richmond said. "I thought that was a huge difference in the game. Usually when the other team makes four more field goals in the second half than you do, you don't win the game."

With the victory, NDC has now won five consecutive games in Murphy Gymnasium and they have eight total home wins in 2019-20.

"I feel very confident against anybody on our home floor," Richmond said. "We have to continue to work and we've got two teams [Charleston, No. 25 West Liberty], who have been nationally ranked this season, coming in here over the next couple of weeks. It's a good time to be playing well at home. We need a great atmosphere and great crowds at home to give ourselves a chance."

"We are a completely different team than we were in November," Owens mentioned. "I really like the growth we've had over the last couple months. We still haven't reached our peak yet, which is good. You want to reach your peak at the end of the year, going into the tournament."

Owens finished with a team-high 21 points, on 54-percent shooting, and three steals. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Scarberry added 13 points and six rebounds. Hodges had 11 points on 45-percent shooting and Frankland had 13 points and seven rebounds. Burton pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.

The Falcons out-rebounded Frostburg State 21-11 in the second half, including 8-4 on the offensive glass. The home team would finish with a plus-9 rebounding margin.

"I was happy with our defensive effort," Richmond mentioned. "As I've preached all year, even if you're not making shots, if you guard you still give yourself a chance. I thought that worked out for us tonight. We didn't play as well offensively as we have, for whatever reason, the shots didn't go in. We were really good defensively and we out rebounded them. I thought some of those 13 offensive rebounds were really timely and we're able to convert some of them."

Notre Dame stays home to play the University of Charleston on February 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.