INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Jaedon Willis scored 20 points and Tyland Crawford recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame College, on Wednesday night. The Falcons and West Virginia State University had nearly identical numbers shooting the ball, but WVSU went 20-for-29 at the free throw line, while NDC went 7-for-11, and the Yellow Jackets won 83-73.

West Virginia State jumped out to an early 14-5 lead, scoring ten of those points in the paint. Notre Dame quickly turned the momentum around, beginning with two made free throws by Crawford. That started a 6-0 run. Following a WVSU turnover, junior Daylin Lee sank a jumper and then W.Va. State missed three consecutive shots before Lee scored again. With 13:08 on the first half clock, the Falcons trailed by just three points, 14-11.

Willis then started to put his mark on the game, hitting a three pointer to tie the game at 16 and, 30 seconds later, he knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 18.

The junior had seven points in the first 20 minutes before making six shots and scoring 13 points in the second half.

Between the 10:58-mark and the 6:52-mark in the first stanza, the score was tied five times.

With 5:09 to go before halftime, freshman Gbolahan Adio drove baseline and dunked the ball to give the Falcons a 27-26 advantage. One minute later, Adio stole the ball and took it down the court for a fastbreak layup to tie the contest at 29.

WVSU then began their run. In the final four minutes, the Yellow Jackets shot 6-for-10 from the field, which included two makes from long range. The 14-2 run to end the half gave West Virginia State a 43-31 lead at the break.

The Falcons shot much better in the final 20 minutes, going 17-for-34 (50-percent) from the field in the second half. They went to work early, scoring the first six points to cut the deficit to six points (43-37).

The Yellow Jackets held a ten-point lead (59-49) with 11:38 on the clock, but NDC would chip away at the lead and the score differential would be single-digits for over 10 minutes. An NDC 7-2 run cut the deficit to five points (61-56) with 9:29 to go.

Notre Dame used the three-point ball to get within striking distance. An offensive rebound by junior Michael Kirkland kept a possession alive for Notre Dame and Willis knocked down a three to make the score 69-65 with 5:39 remaining. Just over a minute later, a long three by freshman Jamarr Talbert Jr. made it a one-possession game, 71-68.

But, one final 7-0 run by West Virginia State put the Yellow Jackets on top by ten points with just over a minute to play.

NDC's defense held WVSU to 34-percent shooting (11-for-32) from the floor in the second half and allowed just one made three-point shot.

Junior Michael Sampson brought down 11 rebounds and freshman DeAirius Barker had 11 points off the bench. Barker has now scored at least 10 points and made four shots in two of the last three games.

Notre Dame comes home for a meeting with the University of Charleston on Jan. 15. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.