SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time in the regular season, Notre Dame College put on a show. The Falcons scored over 100 points for the first time since Jan. 29, 2022, shot 56-percent from the field, and totaled 23 assists, the most in a game since Nov. 20, 2019. NDC defeated Bryant & Stratton College, 102-66, on Wednesday evening.
 
"We needed the win today, because we didn't start the season the way we expected," said Jaedon Willis, who led the Falcons with 21 points. "Today, we wanted to come out and take care of home court. Everyone contributed tonight, everybody was happy for each other. We have to continue to have good days and build on this."
 
Notre Dame jumped out to a 6-0 lead as the ball movement was on display. The first three shots made by the Falcons were in the paint, and an assist was credited on two of the first three baskets.
 
Points in the paint would be a major factor throughout the contest, as NDC would total 50 and held B&S to 32.
 
With 16 minutes remaining in the first half, sophomore DeAirius Barker swung the ball to the right wing and graduate student Tyland Crawford knocked down the three to give NDC a 13-4 lead.
 
Barker made the right plays all over the court, as he set career-highs with seven assists and nine rebounds, to go along with three steals and a season-high 11 points. Crawford would knock down two three-pointers in the game, finishing with 10 points, along with a season-high six rebounds.
 
Later in the first half, the Bobcats missed a three, but Sam Dorissaint grabbed the offensive rebound and put the ball back in, closing the deficit to three points, 17-14. That's when sophomore Kaleb Torrence, who had 10 points in the game, stepped up and gave NDC a boost. After entering the game, he knocked down a three-pointer and, two possessions later, sprinted down for a layup on a fastbreak to put NDC back up by eight points.
 
However, a few turnovers hurt the Falcons over the next four and a half minutes as Bryant & Stratton went on a 10-2 run to tie the contest at 24 with 6:35 remaining before halftime.
 
"We had 16 turnovers, which is still a lot, but we only had five in the second half, which was the difference down the stretch," said head coach Mark Richmond.
 
The score would remain tied at 30 with four minutes to go, until Torrence knocked down a three, sophomore Jevontae Jones hit a shot and then Barker knocked down a jumper as NDC put together a 7-0 run. The Falcons would go into the halftime break, leading 41-34.
 
Bryant & Stratton came into the game scoring at least 102 points in its first two games. They were held to 34 first half points, on 38-percent shooting, and would total just 32 points in the second half and finished the contest shooting 33-percent.
 
"I thought we did a good job defensively, being locked in," Richmond said. "[Bryant & Stratton is] a good team that pushes the pace. We did a good job of slowing them down a little bit. For the most part, we made them play against our halfcourt defense and we had a lot of success doing that."
 
Notre Dame opened up the scoring in the second half, making 15 more shots than the Bobcats and shooting 62-percent.
 
"First thing we had to do was take care of the press and not turn the ball over," Willis mentioned. "We turned the ball over a little bit too much in the first half and that kept the game close. Defensively, we wanted to make them work for everything and make them take tough shots."
 
Both teams missed their first shot of the second stanza, but then NDC was successful on its next five shots. With 16:30 on the second half clock, the Falcons led by 14 points, 51-37. On the other side, the Bobcats missed six of their first seven shots taken in the second half.
 
The Falcons lead never sank below 13 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
Jones played 25 minutes off the bench for NDC and poured in a season-high 14 points, on 7-of-8 shooting. Sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi cleaned the boards with six total rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, to go along with nine points in 11 minutes of action.
 
Fourteen players saw minutes on the court and NDC totaled 61 points off the bench.

"It was important to get those guys comfortable and play through mistakes," Richmond explained. "They're still young and learning and we're still a work in progress. Our strength is in our numbers, our depth, and I think that really showed tonight."
 
Notre Dame jumps into Mountain East Conference play with a home matchup against Wheeling University, on Nov. 19, at 4 p.m.