Falcons Hold Off Late WilberForce Rally!

The Notre Dame College Falcons (17-9) staved off a late rally by WilberForce (9-15) for a 67-61 win at Murphy Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.  

   Notre Dame had three players score in double digits on the evening.  Dan Jones led the way with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting. Jones was 4 of 8 at the line. Eric Dummermuth had a double- double for Notre Dame as he would score 16 points and grab 10 rebounds.  Dummermuth was 6 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 6 at the charity stripe.  Erc Maag would chip in 11 points for the "blue and white".  Maag was 2 of 6 from the floor.  He made 5 of 6 from the foul line.  

   WilberForce was led by 18 points and 12 rebounds from Phillip Moore.  Moore was 7-14 from the floor  and 4 of 4 at the line.  Moore was the only Bulldog in double digits.  Adam Reese scored 8, Cordell Hall and Chris Olafioye had 7 each.   

    The game would begin with a technical foul, which was one of two for WilberForce on the evening.  Dan Jones could not convert on either of the technical free throws.  The second would come in the middle of the second half as WilberForce had six players on the floor. Eric Maag would hit 1 of 2 on that trip.  WilberForce would come out hot in the early stages of the game. After Dan Jones starting the scoring WilberForce would go on a 9-1 run to take a 9-3 lead on a jumper by Tim Giles.  The Falcons would counter with a 8-0 run as Eric Maag would drain a trey with 15 minutes to go in the first half to give Notre Dame a 11-9 lead.  The "blue and white" would increase that lead to 11 at 31-20 on a bank shot by Steve Savel.  The teams would trade baskets the rest of the first half and the Falcons would take a 40-30 lead at halftime. 

   WilberForce would come out hot in the second stanza.   The teams would go back and forth for beginning stages of the half with Notre Dame still holding a twelve point lead. WilberForce would cut that lead to five at 46-41 as DeAndre Johnson split a pair of free throws with 14:45 to go.  The Falcons would stretch the lead back out to thirteen at 56-43 on a three ball by Dan Jones.  WilberForce would go on a 7-0 run to cut the lead back to six  56-50 on a Adam Reese jumper with 9:20 to go.  The Bulldogs would not get any closer than five as Eric Maag and Nick McCartney would ice the victory for the Falcons in the waning seconds from the stripe.  

   Notre Dame shot 38 percent from the floor as compared to 39 percent for WilberForce.  WilberForce would make 4 of 18 treys (22%) as opposed to 6-16 (38%).  The Bulldogs were 11-13 (85%) at the foul line. The Falcons struggled going 17-28 (61%) at the line.  The Bulldogs had the edge on the glass 42-39.  The Falcons had 13 assists as opposed to 12 for the Bulldogs.  WilberForce turned the ball over 16 times as compared to 12 for Notre Dame.  WilberForce had 2 blocks as opposed to 1 for the Falcons.  Notre Dame had 5 steals (McFarlane 3), the Bulldogs had 4 steals.  The Falcons will be back in action Saturday at Walsh. Tip time is set for 4 PM.