SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College jumped out to a 10-point lead, less than five minutes into the game on Saturday, and never looked back. All five starters scored in double-digits for NDC and the Falcons' defense held Alderson Broaddus University to 36-percent shooting, resulting in a 79-61 Notre Dame victory.
 
Sophomore Jamarr Talbert Jr. got the scoring started for the Falcons with a three pointer, just 24 seconds into the game. NDC's first basket in three of the team's last four games has been a three-point shot.
 
Talbert finished with 10 points in the game, which included two 3-pointers. This was his first game in double-figures since Nov. 30.
 
On the next NDC possession, senior Jaedon Willis missed a long two-point shot, but graduate student Tyland Crawford got the offensive rebound and made a layup. Crawford scored seven points in the first half and finished with 11, playing a season-high 32 minutes.
 
"That's the best I've felt in a minute," Crawford said. "Coach told me to lead the guys and bring all the energy I can. It's my last year, so I'm going to do all I can to help the team win."
 
With 16:13 on the clock, Willis passed the ball to sophomore DeAirius Barker in the corner for a three to give Notre Dame a 10-2 lead and force AB to take a timeout. Barker scored six of his 13 points in the first five minutes of the contest.
 
The Falcons knocked down the first four 3-pointers that they took, including back-to-back triples by Willis and Barker to put NDC on top 16-6, at the 15:12-mark in the first half.
 
Alderson Broaddus' Jalen Knott responded with a three, but then NDC's sophomore Isaiah Sanders put the next four points on the scoreboard. Sanders, who played a career-high 17 minutes and scored a career-high seven points, knocked down a layup and split two pairs of free throws.
 
The Battlers quickly clawed back into the game, beginning with a 10-2 run, which closed the gap to three points, 22-19. During the run, that lasted a little over four minutes, AB grabbed four offensive rebounds and forced two NDC turnovers.
 
Notre Dame answered back when Willis was fouled while shooting a three and knocked down all three free throws. Sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi then made a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw and NDC went back up by six points, 28-22, with seven minutes to go before halftime.
 
Ugwuakazi had nine points, going 5-for-5 at the free throw line, with five boards in the first 20 minutes of the game. He ended the game with a career-high 13 points. Between the 5:21-mark and the 4:36-mark, he went 4-for-4 at the line and pushed the Falcons' lead to 13, 36-23. That capped a 14-4 Notre Dame run.
 
At halftime, NDC led 39-29 and shot 50-percent from the floor.
 
The Falcons never gave the lead away, but both teams went back-and-forth throughout the beginning of the second stanza. Alderson Broaddus was riding a 4-0 run and closed the deficit to six points, 48-42, after Jon King made a couple free throws and a layup.
 
AB had possession, again, but Crawford made big play as he stuck his hands up to knock a pass down, took possession and beat everyone down the floor to dunk the ball with two hands.
 
"[Tyland] is our senior leader and has been around a long time," head coach Mark Richmond said. "The play he made in the second half changed the tide. He ran through the ball, got the steal and finished strong on the other side. Tyland is a guy we need down the stretch."
 
AB would stick around and cut the lead to single-digits, one more time, with 10:14 to go in the game. Willis and Sanders would combine for an 8-2 run, which gave the Falcons a 15-point advantage, 63-48, with seven minutes remaining.
 
"In our last game, when we were up by ten, we didn't expand the lead. Tonight, we did and it felt really good. We want to continue doing that," Crawford mentioned.
 
The Falcons' lead would jump all the way to 18, at the 1:33-mark in the second half.

Alderson Broaddus made just nine shots from the field and one 3-pointer in the second half. Tonight's total of 61 is the lowest amount of points given up by the Falcons since allowing 56 to Mount Aloysius, on Dec. 30.
 
"Our defense got us off to a great start. It's our first 40-minute effort in quite some time," Richmond said. "To hold that team to 61 points is really impressive. Offensively, I thought we had a balanced effort from a lot of our guys. We had a few guys out and a few key guys stepped up in key situations."
 
Sanders stole the ball three times tonight, a career-high. Both Willis and Barker finished with four assists and Crawford had three. The Falcons shot 47-percent (8-for-17) from three, the second-best three-point percentage for the team this season.
 
Notre Dame will stay home, on Jan. 25, to host Concord University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.