WHEELING, W.Va. – When college basketball teams reach the postseason tournaments in March, they understand that they are in for some intense battles and a grueling 40 minutes. Notre Dame College men's basketball left everything they had on the court at WesBanco Arena, on Friday night. No. 23 ranked Fairmont State University snuck by NDC, 67-65, in the Mountain East Conference Quarterfinals.

The NDC Falcons were the five seed in the conference tournament, facing four seed Fairmont State. In the regular season, the two teams split, with Fairmont State winning by two points at home and Notre Dame winning by five in the Murphy Gymnasium, less than a month ago.

On Friday, both offenses were up and down throughout. The defense played by both teams was a big factor in the low score and shooting struggles.

Notre Dame was off and running early as junior Sam Jackson grabbed a pass from freshman DeAirius Barker and put the first NDC points on the board with 17:43 on the first half clock. Then junior Jaedon Willis was fouled on a drive and knocked down two free throws. Notre Dame grabbed an 8-5 lead as Barker and junior Michael Sampson both laid the ball up and in.

Fairmont State jumped out to a six-point lead (14-8) with 11:17 remaining before halftime as NDC went on a scoring drought. The NDC Falcons started the game shooting 3-for-16 from the field, but quickly turned that around with five makes in a row.

Following a steal by Willis, junior Michael Kirkland put the ball in the hoop and was fouled. He hit the free throw. The defense by Sampson forced another turnover and Kirkland was the man on the other end to score on a layup. After another Fairmont State miss, John Godinez took a pass with space and he knocked down a three.

FSU called a timeout, but that did not slow the Notre Dame run. Freshman Gbolahan Adio stole the ball and Kirkland gave the NDC Falcons two more points in the paint. With just under nine minutes remaining before halftime, Notre Dame was on a 10-0 run and led 18-14.

Kirkland had 12 points in 12 minutes, on 71-percent shooting. It was his first double-digit scoring game, and best shooting performance, since Jan. 8, against Fairmont State.

Between the 4:41-mark and the 3:08-mark, the game featured three lead changes. Godinez knocked down another three, as he would finish the first half 3-for-3 from the field, with eight points off the bench.

As Fairmont State attempted to expand their lead late in the first stanza, NDC responded every time. With just 17 seconds left, Barker gave the NDC Falcons momentum heading into halftime when he knocked down a three. FSU led by one point, 34-33.

At the break, Notre Dame was shooting 42-percent, while Fairmont State was at 46-percent. Sampson stole the ball three times in the first half, as NDC totaled six, as a team, in the first 20 minutes.

To start the second half, the NDC Falcons did grab the early lead as Willis found his way toward the basket for another jumper.

Fairmont State went on a 5-0 run, but Notre Dame responded with a layup by Godinez and a long distance make by Sampson. That gave NDC a 40-39 lead.

Godinez finished the game with 12 points, on 83-percent shooting, which was his first double-digit scoring night since Feb. 16.

FSU grabbed the lead back, but a minute later, Kirkland took the offensive rebound, made a shot and was fouled. After his free throw make, with 14:34 on the clock, NDC led 43-42.

Fairmont State then put together a 16-6 run and grabbed their largest lead of the game of nine, 58-49, with just 6:55 remaining. Notre Dame had trouble finding decent looks at the basket.

"When they were in man, I was feasting off of it," Sampson said. "I definitely think that's why they went to zone. We didn't attack the middle as much as we should have. Give credit to them, but that was on us."

The NDC Falcons found rhythm on offense again and fought back. Down three points, they forced Fairmont State's Briggs Parris to take a long three as the shot clock expired with about a minute to go. After the miss, junior Daylin Lee knocked down a jumper with 52-seconds on the clock. Notre Dame trailed by one point, 64-63.

After two FSU made free throws, NDC called timeout. There was a bit of struggle by Notre Dame to get to the basket before Lee hit a tough layup to make the score 66-65, in favor of Fairmont State. With under three seconds left, Notre Dame nearly picked off the inbound pass, but a foul was called and Fairmont State went to the free throw line on the other end.

"I was super appreciative of their effort this year," head coach Mark Richmond said, speaking about his team. "I think we took a step forward as a program. We've been trying to build it the right way with the right type of people. Like I told these guys, they had a great approach throughout the entire season. We got off to a great start. We hit a couple skids during the year, some of that is due to who you are playing, who's in, who's out. A little bit of adversity can change the season. I was really proud of our team this year. We had some really big wins at home."

Sampson had nine points and eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes and finished with his eighth double-double of the campaign (13 points, 10 rebounds). Willis had eight points in the second half and finished with 13.

Notre Dame ends the season with 15 wins and 12 conference victories. That's an improvement of six total wins and five conference wins from their last full season in 2019-20. The Falcons tied the program's best start to the season, in terms of wins and losses. They also defeated two teams ranked in the top ten of the National Association of Basketball Coaches top 25 poll (No. 7 West Liberty – Nov. 23, No. 10 Fairmont State – Feb. 9).