SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Every team wants to play well at home. Notre Dame College has made sure that has happened this season, winning 10 games inside Murphy Gymnasium for the first time since the 2018-19 season. On Wednesday, the Falcons went up against the team with most road wins in the Mountain East Conference, the University of Charleston, but NDC finished off a convincing 77-64 win.
 
The first half of the game featured 14 lead changes. The teams went back-and-forth in the first three minutes of the game, before Notre Dame put together a 9-0 run to expand its lead to seven points. Sophomore DeAirius Barker went off for eight consecutive points, hitting a three, knocking down a layup and then putting down another 3-pointer. Graduate student Tyland Crawford helped out on the defensive end with a big block, leading to one of Barker's baskets, and then a steal, leading to a pair of free throws. The Falcons led 13-6, with 15:21 to go before halftime.
 
Charleston worked right back into the game and, after Eddie Colbert III connected from long range, the Golden Eagles led 16-14, with a 10-1 run.
 
Between the 11:42-mark and the 8:07-mark, the lead changed hands 10 times. Senior Jaedon Willis went to the basket, made the shot, and was fouled. He made the free throw, which started an 11-0 run for the Falcons, who led 34-24, with 4:07 remaining in the first half.
 
Once again, the Golden Eagles fought right back, going on a 10-0 run and grabbing a 36-34 lead, with under a minute to go. The road team had all the momentum, until Notre Dame called a timeout. Willis put three more on the scoreboard with a shot from downtown to give the home team a 37-36 lead at halftime.
 
At the break, Willis led the team with 10 points, on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
 
"We wanted to be a little bit more aggressive today," said head coach Mark Richmond. "We played them about a month ago, and they did anything they wanted. Today, we wanted to speed them up a little bit. I'm not sure that we always knew what we were doing, but we played really hard. We competed at a high level and that kind of paid off there in the last five, six minutes [of the game]."
 
The second half featured 10 additional lead changes, along with five ties. Charleston came out of the lockerroom and went on a 6-3 run to grab a 42-40 advantage. The Falcons did not shoot well to start the second half, but slowly settled in. They bounced back with a 4-0 run to retake the lead.
 
With 11 minutes on the clock, sophomore Gbohalan Adio and Crawford knocked down back-to-back threes to put the Falcons ahead 54-50. UC put the next six points on the board, but then the Falcons began to slowly grab all momentum the rest of the way.
 
Barker made a layup at the 8:57-mark to tie the game at 56, which would represent the last tied score in the contest. A couple minutes later, Barker drove to the bucket, made the layup and was fouled. He hit the free throw and NDC grabbed a 59-56 lead, a lead they would never give back.
 
After scoring eight points in the first half, Barker added seven points in the second. He shot 60-percent from the field in the game, totaling 15 points along with four assists and three steals.
 
Sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi showed his range by making a three-pointer with 6:09 on the second half clock and the Falcons continued to push past the Golden Eagles.
 
Ugwuakazi posted his second career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while playing in a career-high 29 minutes. That included nine points and 11 rebounds in the final 20 minutes of the game. On top of those stats, he also blocked a career-high three shots.
 
"[Obinna] has made huge strides," Richmond mentioned. "He's continued to work since getting to campus a couple years ago. I'm really proud of his energy and enthusiasm that he brings everyday."
 
Ugwuakazi put up seven straight points for the Falcons and scored all nine of his second half points from the 6:09-mark to the 2:35-mark. His layup, with about two and-a-half minutes remaining, put NDC ahead by 10 points, 70-60.
 
Crawford made his presence known late in the second half as he scored five consecutive points for the Falcons. With just under two minutes to go, he knocked down a three and then dunked the ball on the next possession. He scored 13 of his 18 points in the second stanza and also finished with eight boards.
 
"My biggest thing is leading the guys and showing them leadership and just bringing that energy and they feed off of it," Crawford said.
 
An alley-oop dunk from Willis to sophomore Jamarr Talbert Jr. put the finishing touch on a win that puts NDC all alone in fourth place in the Mountain East Conference.
 
The Notre Dame defense was impressive on Wednesday. Charleston entered the game 12th in NCAA Division II with a 50.1-percent field goal percentage, but were held to 43-percent shooting tonight, including 17-percent from three. NDC tied a season-high with five blocks and recorded 11 steals for the second time in the last three games. The Falcons have now held nine opponents under 70 points this season.
 
NDC will now head to Institute, W.Va. for a matchup with West Virginia State, on Feb. 18. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.