GLENVILLE, W.Va. – In a tough road matchup against a ranked opponent, Notre Dame College held a 43-40 lead at the halftime break. Three Falcons scored in double-digits, but No. 24 Glenville State College was able to close the game with a 91-80 win, on Wednesday.

Notre Dame fell behind by a score of 16-7 after four minutes of play, but worked right back into the game. A 16-5 run pushed the Falcons in front by a score of 23-21. Junior Michael Sampson went to work around the hoop and scored seven points during the run. Glenville State also went extremely cold, missing eight straight field goals.

The Falcons continued to have the hot hand on offense and went on an 11-0 run from the 8:28-mark to the 5:44-mark in the first half. Notre Dame led 34-25 and were shooting 60-percent from the field.

NDC pushed the lead to 10 points, 40-30, with 3:30 remaining before halftime. The Pioneers did end the half on a 10-3 run, and the Falcons led 43-40 at halftime.

Notre Dame was shooting 55-percent (16-for-29) from the field at halftime and junior Jordan Roland led the way with 11 points. Glenville State went 5-for-25 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.

Through the first 4:20 of the second half, NDC held onto the lead. GSC tied the game with two free throws by Tommy Williams, with 15:48 on the clock. They would take the lead when John Williams scored a layup, about 10 seconds later.

The score remained close, as there were five ties in the second half. Notre Dame held a 63-62 lead, following a jumper by sophomore Jordan Burton, with 10:16 remaining in the game. But, three minutes later, John Williams hit a three-pointer to give GSC the advantage and they never gave it back.

"The first half, we executed our game plan," said head coach Mark Richmond. "We took care of the ball and rebounded. We played some zone to limit dribble penetration and it helped us at times. We have to learn to close out both halves. We made way too many mistakes down the stretch. It's a 40-minute game and we have to stay focused and disciplined that entire time."

Both teams' shooting percentages were almost identical in the second half with NDC at 47-percent and GSC at 46-percent. However, Glenville State knocked down four more threes and 16 more free throws than Notre Dame in the stanza.

Notre Dame shot 51-percent for the game and totaled 46 points in the paint. Roland shot 50-percent and scored 18 points. Sampson recorded his second double-double of the season, posting season-highs in points (15), total rebounds (14) and offensive rebounds (5). Freshman John Godinez added 14 points and four assists.

NDC comes home to play Concord University on Saturday, Feb. 6. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.