Big Second Half Lifts Falcons To First Hoops Win!

The Notre Dame Falcons rode a huge second half to a 90-65 win over Kuyper College on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons evened their record at 1-1 while the Cougars dropped to 0-4. The Falcons had five players tally in double figures Saturday. Eric Dummermuth led the way for NDC with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Reiger and Nick McCartney had 18 points each. Phil Biggs netted 11 while Curtis McClure chipped in 10.

The Cougars had a pair of players in double figures. Terrence Billups led the way with 27. Justin Christensen netted 11 for the upstarts from Grand Rapids,Michigan.

NDC would jump out in the early going to a 10-4 lead about 4 minutes in after a pair of Dummermuth free throws. The Cougars would battle back and tie the game at 14 after a Billups lay up. The game would go back and forth for the rest of the first half. The Falcons would lead by as many as 8 but it would be 45-40 NDC at the break. The falcons would come out hot in the second half and a three ball by McCartney with 15:01 to go would give the Falcons their biggest lead of the day at 55-42. Billups would hit a pair of free throws to cut it to a 11 but then the Falcons would go on a 7-0 run capped by another McCartney triple that would make it 62-44 Falcons. The Falcons would lead by as many as 29 in the second half as Phil Biggs and Rieger as well as McCartney would lead the three point barrage. It was 90-61 Falcons with 33 seconds to go. The Cougars would score the game's final four points.

The biggest difference in this game would be turnovers. The Falcons had 36 points off turnovers to just 11 for the Cougars. 20 of the 36 came in the second half when the Falcons pulled away. NDC had a slight edge with 34 points in the paint to 26 for the Cougars. The Cougars shot 36% from the field but just 24% in the second half while the Falcons shot 47% for the game and 51% in the second stanza. The Falcons connected on 10 of 21 three's for 48% while the Cougars were just 4 of 19 (21%) from distance. Both teams were solid at the foul line. The Falcons were 18-24 (75%) while the Cougars were 19 of 22 (86%). The Falcons won the battle of the boards 28-27. The Cougars had 24 turnovers to just 13 for NDC. The Falcons had 15 steals while the Cougars had 6. The Falcons will be back in action when they play Siena Heights in Ann Arbor,Michigan. The Saints and Falcons will tip at 8 PM Friday.