SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – On Tuesday night, Notre Dame College made its presence known to the Mountain East Conference, defeating the team picked to finish first in the conference preseason poll, No. 7 West Liberty University, by a score of 82-81. The win moves the Falcons to 4-0 on the year, the program's best start since the 2009-10 season.

"It was a big win for us," said Jaedon Willis, who scored 14 points and added five assists. "West Liberty is coming in here top 15 in the country, but we felt pretty good coming into the game."

The Falcons defeat a top 25 ranked team for first time since beating West Liberty in the Mountain East Conference championship game in March 2019. Tonight's game also represents the first win against WLU in Murphy Gymnasium.

Notre Dame was active right away. Freshman John Godinez knocked down a three to put NDC on the board. The Falcons would get an offensive rebound by junior Michael Sampson and a quick pass went to junior Michael Kirkland, who scored. And on the next possession, Godinez connected on another jumper and the energy could be felt from the court and in the stands as the Falcons took a 7-2 lead with 16:32 to go in the first half.

The Hilltoppers then started causing turnovers and went on a 10-1 run. NDC turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions and WLU took a 12-8 lead, in the span of about three minutes.

The Falcons climbed right back into it and started to feel comfortable from long range. Junior Tyland Crawford hit a three and then junior Daylin Lee knocked down a triple with an assist by Crawford. Sophomore Lameen Carter finished a layup and put the Falcons on top 16-15 with 12:20 on the clock.

"We have a group of guys who, any given night, can score 20 [points], so coach emphasizes share the ball and everyone eats," Crawford said. Crawford had 10 points in the first half and 11 in the second half to finish with 21 points.

However, with just over three minutes to go before halftime, West Liberty had control of the contest. Off of a missed three pointer, Viktor Kovacevic grabbed an offensive rebound and sent a pass to Ben Sarson for the bucket on the second chance opportunity. The Hilltoppers took a 14-point lead (43-29).

NDC did not back down, and in two minutes, went on a 9-0 run to close the deficit to five points (43-38). The Falcons went into the halftime break trailing 47-38, but they were shooting 53-percent from the field and 56-percent from three after 20 minutes.

"I'm proud of our guys, especially in the second half," head coach Mark Richmond said. "I thought halftime was good for us, we settled down and I thought we played much better toward the end of the first half and in the second half. I thought defensively, we got some key stops and offensively, we moved and attacked them."

The beginning of the second half appeared to be a look into the future for the two teams: frustration for West Liberty, success for the Falcons. The Hilltoppers started the half with the ball, but Bryce Butler missed two shots from close-range and then the ball was stolen by Willis.

Willis missed a three-pointer on the other end, but NDC took advantage of their second chance opportunity and Willis was ready when the ball swung back around to him. He hit the second long-range attempt.

"First half, we weren't really moving the ball well," he said. "In the second half, we moved the ball really well, got easy shots. We locked in on defense and made them take tough shots in the second half. I think that was the difference."

A 7-0 run put Notre Dame in front for the first time in the second half, pulling ahead 53-51, with 15:13 on the clock.

The teams battled throughout the second stanza. Between the 13:53-mark and the 3:36-mark, the lead changed five times.

With under three minutes remaining in the contest, West Liberty's Malik McKinney sunk a layup and gave the Hilltoppers a 75-73 lead. The Falcons were on a mission to close the game and tied the contest with a layup by Crawford. Lee knocked down a three before freshman Gbolohan Adio hit a layup and Notre Dame grabbed a five-point lead, 80-75. All three of those made baskets included an assist.

"You can get some good shots against [West Liberty], but you have to be patient and share it," Richmond said. "I thought, in the second half, we did a better job of that. In the second half [West Liberty] played aggressive, but we kept our poise and were strong with the ball."

WLU cut the Falcons' lead down to one point with 17 seconds remaining, but freshman DeAirius Barker knocked down two clutch free throws to put Notre Dame up, 82-79.

"We did a good job for the majority of the second half," Richmond mentioned. "We protected the rim much better in the second half. [West Liberty] tried to take advantage of our size, but guys battled and fought and we did a good job rebounding-wise."

West Liberty came into the game leading all of NCAA Division II with 101.8 points per game and were held to less than 95 points for the first time this season. They scored just 34 points and shot 18-percent from three-point land in the second half.

On the other side, Notre Dame ended the game shooting 50-percent from the field and 50-percent from three. The Falcons also out-rebounded the Hilltoppers, 45-32. Notre Dame had not won the rebounding battle against an opponent yet this season, prior to the game.

Sampson led the Falcons with a season-high 15 boards, including five offensive rebounds. Lee scored 11 points off the bench in just his second game with the Falcons.

Notre Dame heads to Glenville State College on Dec. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

*Note* The NABC's first regular season coaches' poll was released on Tuesday afternoon, moving West Liberty from No. 14 to No. 7.