SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Against the University of Charleston on Wednesday, Notre Dame College tied the game at 25 with 9:22 remaining in the first half and shot the ball at 52-percent over the first 20 minutes of the game. But in the second half, Charleston's offense powered through and won by a score of 88-70.

Riding a five-game home winning streak into Wednesday's contest, Notre Dame fought back after falling down by nine points, 20-11. UC's Drew Rackley nearly built the early lead himself, as he had knocked down three 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of the game.

Charleston, who is second in the MEC standings, led by eight points with 11:03 on the clock, following a dunk by Devon Robinson. The Falcons stepped up to the challenge after what could have been a total shift in momentum. Senior Deanthony Owens hit a three pointer on the Falcons next possession and then a steal by senior Drew Scarberry led to a three by freshman Jordan Burton.

Burton missed just one shot and had 14 points in the first half. He finished the game with a career-high 21 points while making a career-high nine shots.

"He got it going early, which was good," said Head Coach Mark Richmond. "[Charleston] guards the ball screen in a unique way sometimes, so we stressed to him to be more aggressive coming off of it. They do a good job of taking other guys away and dared Jordan to take shots. He rose to the occasion."

Owens was fouled and connected on both of his free throws to tie the game at 25 and then he made a layup on the next possession to give Notre Dame a 27-25 advantage. After an offensive foul was called on the Golden Eagles, the Falcons stretched their lead to four points, 29-25, with a Scarberry jumper. The 12-0 NDC run took a little over three minutes.

Charleston bounced back with an 8-0 run to take their own four-point lead, 33-29. Then, Burton stepped up again for Notre Dame and knocked down a long range shot to pull the Falcons within one point with 4:16 to go in the first half.

At halftime, UC led 42-36. Owens had 12 points for the Falcons at the break. NDC was shooting 52-percent from the field and 50-percent from three, while Charleston was shooting 56-percent from the field and 54-percent from three.

To start the second half, Notre Dame made the first two baskets. With 16:15 to go in the game, Notre Dame had tied the game at 44 after senior Bruce Hodges III was successful on a shot attempt.

But then the road team got extremely hot and made their next five shots from the field along with two free throws. That offensive outburst gave the Golden Eagles a 60-46 lead and the UC advantage did not fall below 10 points the rest of the way.

"Early in the second half, the first eight to ten minutes, we were playing pretty well offensively," Richmond said. "Then [Charleston] went on a little bit of a run there and then once we got in the deficit, we couldn't overcome it… I thought we might have pressed a little bit in the second half. Offensively, we took some quick shots which led to run outs and that's how the deficit was built."

The Falcons had four players score in double-digits. Along with Burton and Owens, who each had 21, Scarberry finished with 12 points on 50-percent shooting and Hodges totaled 10 points. As a team, NDC had nine offensive rebounds and 10 second chance points.

"We spoke early about having a growth mentality," Richmond explained. "We were going to continue to get better and continue to learn and find ways to stay in games. I think we've done that. It's been a long year and we've been through a lot, on and off the floor. We've got a bunch of seniors, so hopefully those guys are hungry in March and rise to the occasion."

Notre Dame will head to West Virginia State University to play on February 22. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.