SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College tried to find consistency on the offensive end, early in the game, but the difficult shooting night led to the Falcons' third home loss of the season, as they fell to Davis & Elkins College by a score of 78-63, on Saturday. Senior Jaedon Willis, who recently hit the 1,000-point mark in his time with the Falcons, led the team with 27 points.
 
Davis & Elkins jumped out to a seven-point lead, 11-4, with 16 minutes on the clock, but Notre Dame would respond with a 6-3 run. Willis connected on a jumper, sophomore Obinna Ugwuakazi grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup and then a layup by sophomore DeAirius Barker pulled the Falcons within four points, 14-10.
 
After that point, NDC had trouble finding the bottom of the net until graduate student Tyland Crawford went to the free throw line and knocked down two shots, with 6:29 on the clock. Notre Dame would knock down three pairs of free throws, and then Willis began to get the Falcons back on track. Around the three-minute mark, he stole the ball and found Ugwuakazi, near the basket, for a layup. After that, Willis would hit a three on back-to-back possessions and NDC trailed by just 11 points after a 10-2 run.
 
At the halftime break, Davis & Elkins led 39-24, after shooting 58-percent from the field over the first 20 minutes. Willis led all scorers with 12 points in the first half.
 
The Senators' lead expanded to 19 points, three minutes into the second half. The Falcons slowly started to get back into striking distance as Willis went off and scored 10 straight NDC points. He made a layup and was fouled, for a three-point play. A technical foul was called on D&E and Willis made both technical free throws and then knocked down a shot for a four-point possession. One minute later, he hit another three and with 11:46 remaining in the game, NDC trailed 57-45.
 
With 1:21 to go, Crawford was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. He made all three free throws to close the gap to 10 points, 71-61. But, NDC was unable to get any closer.
 
Crawford had 10 points and six rebounds in the second half. He would finish the game with 12 points and nine rebounds.

"We dug ourselves a huge hole early on and we were never able to get out of it," said head coach Mark Richmond. "I thought we tried to play the right way in the second half, but couldn't overcome some of the mistakes."

Willis added 15 points in the second half, going 5-for-13 from the field.
 
Notre Dame will hit the road to take on Fairmont State University, on Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m.