Second half rally not enough, Falcons fall in OT!

The Notre Dame Falcons (2-5) rallied from a 13 point deficit early in the second half to force overtime before falling to the Adrian (Mich) Bulldogs 68-62 on Saturday night at Merrilat Center Gym. Each team had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation with the score tied at 50. Freshman Taylor Reiger of the Falcons missed a jumper with 4 seconds to go that would have given the Falcons the lead and could have won it. Then the Bulldogs Javon Mosley had his chance that would be off the mark. Cody Barnes hit a pair of threes in the OT to give the Bulldogs a 6 point lead. Adrian would score the first 12 points of OT before the Falcons would score 12 of the final 18 to account for the final margin.

The Falcons were led by four players in double figures on the evening. Rodney Mickens led NDC with 19 points. Taylor Reiger netted 15, Phil Biggs had 11 and Eric Dummermuth was held to a season low 10 points on just 4 of 8 shooting. Dummermuth led the Falcons with 13 rebounds. Rieger dished out 7 assists to go with his 15 points playing 44 of the 45 minutes. The Falcons shot 40% from the floor on the evening. They hit 9 of 26 from three point land. Once again the Falcons struggled at the charity stripe going just 7 of 13 (54%). The Falcons also had 11 miscues. It was the stingy defense of the Falcons that forced the OT though. The "blue and white" only gave up 19 second half points.

The Bulldogs (3-3) had 5 players score double figures. Cody Barnes and Mitch Gabrielle paced the Bulldogs with 12 points each. Wesley Reed scored 11, Delano Collins and Ray Reed added 10 each. Sean Gallant led Adrian with 8 rebounds. Collins posted 10 assists to go with his 10 points. The Bulldogs shot 35% for the game. It was the 29% shooting in the second half that saw the big second half lead dissipate. The Bulldogs were 11 of 29 from long range. Adrian shot 71%(15-21) at the foul line. The Falcons won the battle of the boards 32-30. The Bulldogs also took better care of the ball, only committing 7 miscues.

The Falcons will take a week of practice and adjustments to bounce back. NDC will be back in action Friday night at the Mercyhurst tournament. The opponent is yet to be determined but we do know tip time will be 6 PM.