GLENVILLE, W.Va. – Notre Dame College and Glenville State College went back and forth in the first half, with seven lead changes and neither team expanding their lead past six points. Glenville State held the lead for much of the second half, and held off an NDC comeback in the final 90 seconds to win, 97-91.

Notre Dame took advantage of some missed shots and played fast in the opening minutes. Junior Michael Sampson made a layup, junior Jaedon Willis hit a jumper in the lane and freshman John Godinez drove to the basket for a layup to give NDC a 6-0 lead with 18:45 on the clock.

Glenville State's John Williams connected on two free throws, but the team did not make its first field goal until the 18:04-mark, when Matthew Allman scored. Allman made the first four shots from the field for GSC. He scored 14 points in the first half.

A three-pointer by Allman gave Glenville State a 12-11 lead with 16:23 remaining before halftime and the Falcons did not grab the lead back until junior Michael Kirkland took a pass from junior Tyland Crawford and gave NDC a 21-20 advantage.

Both teams put together multiple scoring runs. A 5-0 run put NDC up, 26-21, and then Glenville State made three of their next four 3-pointers for a 9-0 run to pull ahead 30-26.

After NDC fell behind by six points because of a 6-0 run by the Pioneers, a layup late in the first half by Crawford pulled the Falcons within four points, 42-38. Willis scored 13 points in the first seven minutes of the game and finished the first half with 19. Notre Dame shot 47-percent in the first 20 minutes and they outscored Glenville State, 18-6, on points in the paint.

The Pioneers changed the strategy in the second half and John Williams began driving into the lane. After scoring just six points in the paint in the first half, GSC scored 20 in the second half. Williams made a layup and Godinez answered on the other end with a jumper to start the second stanza.

With 16:30 remaining, Notre Dame was down by seven points, but began to fight back. Willis had the assist as freshman DeAirius Barker knocked down a long-range shot. Following a GSC miss, Willis found Sampson for a layup and then Sampson stole the ball and passed to junior Sam Jackson, who finished at the rim to cap a 7-0 NDC run and tie the contest at 52. 

With 12:37 on the clock, Willis scored a layup and was fouled. He made his free throw and gave the Falcons their first lead of the second half, 57-56.

Glenville State would quickly grab the lead back and would not give it up again. Notre Dame did battle late in the contest, after falling down by 13 points with 1:49 to go. Junior Daylin Lee and Willis each hit from three-point land and the Pioneers turned the ball over. Lee knocked down another three pointer and Sampson caused another Glenville State turnover. Sampson was fouled and split a pair of free throws. With 38 seconds remaining, Notre Dame trailed by just four points, 92-88, using a 10-1 run.

But, Notre Dame could not get any closer than four points the rest of the way. Willis had 19 points in the second half with four assists. He totaled 14 points in the final 6:32 of the contest.

"We weren't able to get enough key stops in the second half," said head coach Mark Richmond. "I thought we traded baskets a little bit and just needed to find a way to get some stops down the stretch. I was proud of our effort, but we needed to be better to get this one on the road. We'll use this as a learning experience and get back to work with another tough test against Concord on Saturday."

Willis' 38 points is the most in a game since Will Vorhees' 44 on March 16, 2019 against Virginia State.

Crawford added 11 points, Barker had 10 and Sampson gave NDC eight points and eight rebounds.

NDC comes back home to face Concord University on Dec. 4. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.