WHEELING, W.Va. – At WesBanco Arena, the host of the Mountain East Conference Tournament, the nine seed Wheeling University traveled a few minutes down the road to play the eight seed Notre Dame College in the First Round. The Falcons trailed by eight in the second half and came back to force overtime. Wheeling led by four in the extra period, but Notre Dame came back and got a late tip-in by RJ Ogom to put the Falcons in front. NDC won the game, 100-98, to advance to the quarterfinal.

"Obviously, one heck of a game," said head coach Mark Richmond. "Really proud of these guys, sticking together. We had a big deficit late and rallied in the final 30 seconds. We really fought down the stretch and got that lead back in the second half and it was back-and-forth from there."
 
Wheeling got off to a strong start, taking a 9-2 lead, with 16:43 to go in the first half. Junior Andre Harris and sophomore Devin Haid both drove to the basket for NDC, cutting the WU lead to four points, twice. The Cardinals' Alex Smith hit a layup and then Sean Ealy knocked down a 3-pointer to stretch the Cardinals' lead to 10, 22-12, by the 12:55-mark.
 
The Falcons eventually put together a 7-0 run to close within two points, 41-39, with 5:08 on the clock. It started when Haid blocked a shot, which led to a layup by Harris through contact and a foul was called. He missed the free throw, but junior Joshua Dames grabbed the offensive board and knocked down a triple. Off a Wheeling miss, Harris made a fastbreak layup, to cap the run.
 
Senior Trent Williams hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two points, 50-48, with just 1:06 remaining in the first half. But, after leading 2-0 to start the game, NDC was unable to break through and retake the lead the rest of the opening stanza. At halftime, Wheeling led by a score of 52-48.
 
Haid shot 5-for-7 from the field for 16 points through the opening 20 minutes, while Harris posted 14 points.
 
Junior Gbolahan Adio, who did not attempt a three in the first half, made four 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the second half. After his made basket from long range at the 14:51-mark, Notre Dame was down by two points, 65-63.
 
The Falcons then went on a 6-0 run, over a minute span, to grab the lead. Harris made two free throws on the offensive side, and then blocked a shot on the defensive end, which led to a pass from Williams to Harris for a dunk. Adio stole the ball and found junior Joshua Dames for a layup to put NDC ahead, 69-67, with 13:07 to go.
 
Between the 12:28-mark and the 10:06-mark, the game featured three ties and three lead changes.
 
The game was still up in the air in the final two minutes of regulation. Wheeling's Tee Harris made a layup to put Wheeling, 84-82, with just under two minutes to play. Out of a timeout, Harris made a layup to tie the game at 84. He then stole the ball and took it down the court for an easy two points, and the lead, 86-84. WU's Ealy got fouled and knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 86 and force overtime.
 
Adio scored 15 points and Harris totaled 12 points in the second stanza.
 
The lead changed hands three times, along with two ties in the overtime period. NDC lost the lead early in overtime, and WU pushed its advantage to four points, 98-94, with 54 seconds left. Notre Dame took the ball down the court, missed a three but Dames grabbed the offensive rebound. Williams took advantage of the second chance opportunity and knocked down a three to cut it within one, 98-97.
 
The Cardinals missed two free throws on their possession and Notre Dame took the lead on the other end. Harris missed a close shot at the rim, but Ogom followed it up with a tip-in layup. Ogom had only played 3:25 in the second half and 38 seconds in the overtime period, coming back off the bench for the game-winner.
 
To seal the game, Adio stole the ball away, got fouled and made one free throw.
 
Harris finished the game with a career-high 30 points and eight rebounds, shooting 11-for-15 from the field. Gbolahan Adio scored 20 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 5-for-8 behind the three-point line. Dames tied his season-high with 16 points, while Haid also finished with 16.
 
As a team, Notre Dame shot the ball at 54.7-percent, which was the fourth-highest in a game this season, and shot 45.8-percent from three, the third-highest mark this season. The Falcons' 100 points is tied for the second-most in a contest this year.
 
The Falcons will play the No. 1 seed University of Charleston, who is ranked No. 12 in the country, on March 8, at 6 p.m.