SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Jaedon Willis and DeAirius Barker combined for 48 points for Notre Dame College, helping the Falcons nail down an 87-70 win on Senior Day, over Frostburg State University. NDC scored 56 points, including eight made threes, in the second half.
 
Following the game, the senior class of Tyland Crawford, Daylin Lee and Willis were honored at center court.
 
"It's a special day, and it becomes really special when all three of those guys contribute and help win a game that we desperately needed," said head coach Mark Richmond.
 
With the victory, the Falcons have matched their overall win total from last season (15) and their home win total from last season (9).
                                                            
Notre Dame started the game fast as Lee used a backdoor cut to get to the basket and Barker found him for the dunk to open the scoring.
 
Agyei Edwards knocked down a three-pointer for Frostburg State, to give the Bobcats an 8-6 lead, with 15:24 on the first half clock. The Falcons began to have some offensive struggles and FSU did enough over the next five minutes to keep the Falcons from taking the lead.
 
NDC would tie the game three times, but would not retake the lead until Willis hit a tough, off-balanced jumper, while being fouled. He would knock down the free throw and the Falcons led 16-13 at the 10-minute mark.
 
Willis had just five points in the first half, but then went off for 22 points in the second stanza. He made all four of his threes in the second half.
 
"In the first half, we had really good energy defensively. Offensively, we just weren't making shots," Willis said. "We found the rhythm in the second half and took off."
 
The teams went back and forth late in the first half, starting with an 8-0 run that gave NDC a 19-13 lead, with just under nine minutes to go. Frostburg State responded quickly with a 7-0 run to grab a 20-19 lead. The Falcons then closed the half on an 8-2 run, over the final four minutes, and took a 31-24 lead into the locker room.
 
NDC shot just 35-percent from the field in the first half, but held FSU to 31-percent shooting. After 20 minutes, Barker had totaled six points and seven rebounds and Lee led the way with nine points on 57-percent shooting.
 
After scoring 69 points, or less, in each of the last three games, Notre Dame put up 56 points in the final 20 minutes of the contest on Saturday.
 
At the top of the three-point arc, Jaedon Willis dropped a pass into sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi, who had a wide-open lane and slammed the ball down. Willis would score or assist on the first seven points of the second stanza. After the dunk, he knocked down a three and then made two free throws. With 18:52 on the second half clock, Notre Dame's lead swelled to 14 points, 38-24.
 
Frostburg State went on a short run to cut the deficit to eight points, but Tyland Crawford made a layup to push the NDC lead back to double-digits. He then stole the ball, and after an offensive rebound, sophomore Jamarr Talbert Jr. found Barker for a three.
 
Crawford ended the night with 11 points, on Senior Night.

The Bobcats would not go away and a 9-2 run brought them within six points, 45-39. Although the Falcons shot the ball very well in the second half, Frostburg State had an answer to many of NDC's made baskets. FSU would total 46 points, on 62-percent shooting, in the second stanza. However, they would never get closer than six points.
 
With 5:18 to go, Notre Dame led by just seven points, 66-59. Barker took over with a quick 4-0 run, scoring on a layup and then knocking down a jumper. The Falcons went up by 11 points and their lead would never dip below 10 points the rest of the game.
 
From the 3:02-mark until the 1:46-mark, Willis put together a personal 10-0 run. He hit a two-point jumper, back-to-back threes and two free throws. After going 7-for-7 at the line on Saturday, he has now hit 44 consecutive free throws.
 
"[This win] was really big after dropping our last two games," Willis said. "We had things that we needed to correct and today, we wanted to come out and play well, play hard for each other… We just had to execute and we did that in the second half."
 
Barker recorded the second double-double of his career, grabbing 10 rebounds, to go along with 21 points.
 
"Our bigs do a good job of boxing out, so I try to help them out by flying in and getting the rebounds," he said. "It really gets our offense started, because if I can get it, [the post players] can get out and run."
 
"Jaedon and DeAirius play off of each other really well," Richmond said. "When one of them is playing well, the other usually does well. Those guys playing at a high level is very important for our team."
 
The Falcons turned the ball over just five times, the least amount in a game this season. Five blocks is also tied for the team's season-high.
 
NDC will stay home to play the University of Charleston, on Feb. 15. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.