Falcons Season Closes With Loss To Central.

The Notre Dame Falcons saw their 2011-12 basketball season come to a halt with a 85-75 loss to Central State in the opening round of the Ohio Independent Champions. With the loss, the Falcons ended the season with a record of 10-17. The win for the Marauders (19-8) was a seventh straight for them at home, and sixth in seven contests overall.

The Falcons had four players score in double figures. Phil Biggs (10 points and 10 rebounds) closed his fine NDC career with his eighth double-double of the season. Marcquice Taylor netted 16, Lawrence DeArmond tallied 15, and Raphi Tekie added 11. The Falcons shot 44 percent from the floor and 37 percent from the 3-point line. The Falcons struggled at the foul line, as they did much of the season going just 10-19. NDC had nine assists (six by Taylor) and 12 turnovers.

Greg Rice had 23 points and nine rebounds to pace the Marauders. Gerald Campbell added 14 and Demarkus Isom-Jones tallied 11 in the win. The Marauders shot 49 percent as a team but struggled from the 3-point line hitting just 3-16 (19 percent). Central also struggled at the foul line going just 12-21. The Marauders edged the Falcons on the boards 39-33. They had 16 assists and 11 turnovers.

Both teams came out ice cold shooting the ball. The Falcons did not hit there first field goal attempt until 15:07 in the opening half on a three by Phil Biggs. The Marauders were almost just as cold though, and after that three the Falcons only trailed 8-5. The Marauders then went on a 12-0 burst to take a 20-5 lead. The Marauders led 37-28 at the half.

NDC came out red hot in the second half. The Falcons hit five of the first seven shots that they took and were within one (46-45) after a 13-0 run with 12:19 to go. Central would answer with a 9-2 run of their own and would stretch the lead back out to eight. The Falcons would get as close as five (66-61) with 3:40 to go on a Troy Baugh jumper but could not overcome the slow start. Greg Rice hit three free throws late to seal it for the Marauders.

Cavs Cruise Past Falcons.

The Walsh Cavaliers used a hot shooting day to cruise past the Notre Dame Falcons 78-59 on Saturday afternoon.

Walsh improved to 24-5 with the victory. The win was Walsh's eighth in the last nine contests. For NDC they dropped to 10-16 on the season and it was just the second loss for the Falcons it's last six times out. Walsh increased it's home win streak to 11 straight.

Walsh shot a red hot 51.6 percent from the floor for the game. NDC shot 42.3 percent from the floor and went 7-14 (50 percent) from the 3-point line. The Cavs dominated the glass, out rebounding NDC 38-27.

Three NDC players scored double figures in the game. Lawrence DeArmond scored 13 points to pace Notre Dame. It was the fifth straight contest that DeArmond has scored double figures. Phil Biggs added 12, and Marcquice Taylor tallied 11.

Wash had four players tally double numbers on the afternoon. L.J Sutton led the way with 18 points, while Jeff Copleand and Ron Kinney netted 15 each. Rian Burrell had 13 to round out the double digit scorers.

The Cavs jumped out to a quick lead 23-9 in the early going behind some sharp shooting. The Falcons cut the Walsh lead to 10 at the half (38-28). Phil Biggs hit a jumper on the opening possession of the second half to cut the lead to single digits. The Cavs then hit the next seven shots they took and opened up a 55-37 lead. Walsh would lead by as many as 23 (62-39) and cruise to the 78-59 win.

NDC will be the number 6 seed and will face number 3 seed Central State in the opening round of the Ohio Independent championship. The game will be played on Tuesday February 28th at either 7 or 7:30.

Falcons Cruise on Senior Day.

The Notre Dame Falcons (10-15) controlled the game from the opening tip Wednesday and knocked off Ohio Dominican 86-72. The Falcons honored five Seniors before Wednesday's game, but it was a Juinor who came up big in this one. Nathan Ensz had a double-double (21 points and 12 rebounds). Ensz was one of four Falcons who scored double figures on the night. Lawrence DeArmond had 17 points, while Troy Baugh and Marcquice Taylor netted 10 each. The Falcons shot 59 percent in the game and hit 6 of 17 from the 3-point line. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 38-32. They were just 8-14 at the foul line. NDC had 20 assists and 16 turnovers.

Ohio Dominican fell to 3-22 on the season. The Panthers have now lost 14 straight. ODU is still looking for that elusive first win of the 2012 calendar year. The Panthers had 9 assists and 11 turnovers.

NDC will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Canton to battle Walsh. Tip time is set for 4 PM.

Falcons End Skid.

For the Notre Dame Falcons in the 2010-11 season any win has been hard to come by. On the road they have been even harder to come by. Wednesday night the Falcons took out some aggression on Ohio State Lima with a 93-38 win. The win snapped a seven game road losing streak and was just the Falcons third road win of the season. With the win NDC improved to 9-15 on the season. The Falcons shot 58 percent as a team, including 8-18 from the 3-point line. Notre Dame continued a trend that has been going on all season by hitting just 54 percent (7-13) at the foul line. The Falcons pounded OSUL on the glass 48-30. The Falcons had 24 assists and 18 turnovers. NDC had five players in double figures. Lawrence DeArmond led the way with 18 points, Nate Ensz recorded a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds), Cameron Carlin hit 4 three's for a career high 12 points, Nathan Snarr added a season high 11 and Troy Baugh netted 10. Taylor Reiger tied a team high for the season with six steals.

The Barons fell to 6-21 on the season in losing to the Falcons for the second time this year. Zac Reames was the only Baron in double figures with 10, Dontra Hutchins and Brady Schroeders added six each. The Barons only shot 24 percent from the field and hit just 3-19 from the 3-point line. The Barons struggled at the foul line going just 9 of 18. OSUL had five assists and 22 turnovers.

The Falcons will be off until Wednesday when they will host Ohio Dominican on Senior night at Murphy Gym. Tip time is set for 7 PM.

Pioneers Too Much For Falcons.

The Malone Pioneers jumped out to a 9-0 lead early and never trailed in avenging a loss to Notre Dame College back on January 21st.

The Pioneers win was their third straight and improved the Pioneers record to 11-12. Malone used some hot shooting in the opening half to build the big lead in the 83-64 win. The Pioneers would lead 22-8 nearly halfway thru the opening half. That lead would be stretched to 23 (45-22) at the half. The Pioneers led by 3o on a pair of occasions in the second half and cruised to the win. Three Malone players scored double figures on the day. Isiah Elliot had 19 to lead the Pioneer box score, Eric Coblentz added 17 including three 3-pointers, Zach Bates went 5 of 7 for his 12 points. Malone shot 55 percent as a team and hit 10-22 from the 3-point line. The Pioneers were 15-17 at the foul line. The hosts had 10 assists as well as 10 turnovers.

The loss for the Falcons snapped a modest two game win streak as they fell to 8-15. NDC has now lost seven straight on the road. Two Falcons players scored in double figures on the afternoon. Lawrence DeArmond had 11 points, while Phil Biggs added 11 points and eight rebounds. NDC shot 41 percent from the floor and hit 8-19 from the 3-point line. They struggled mightily at the foul line going just 8-14. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 32-29. They had 12 assists to go along with 16 turnovers.

The Falcons will hit the road again on Wednesday when they head to Lima to take on Ohio State Lima. Tip time is set for 6 PM.

NDC Topples Tigers

If only the Notre Dame College Falcons could find a way to win on the road like they do at home. The Falcons improved to 8-14 on the season, 6-5 at Murphy Gym with a 79-73 win over Salem International. The Falcons had six players score in double figures for the second straight game. Marcquice Taylor posted 17 points to lead the way. Nate Enz and Lawrence DeArmond netted 14 each. Phil Biggs added yet another double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, while Troy Baugh narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Taylor Reiger rounded out the double digit scorers with 10. The Falcons shot 44 percent from the field and hit 38 percent from the 3-point line. The Falcons shot 87.2 percent (34-39) at the foul line. NDC had 38 rebounds to 30 for Salem International. The Falcons had 12 assists and 19 turnovers.

The Tigers fell to 5-17 with the loss. Three players tallied double figures on the evening. Kenneth McCornell scored 17 to lead the way, Waler Brock had 14 and Ray'mar Porter added 11. The Tigers shot 45 percent from the floor and went 7-25 from the 3-point line. The Tigers only hit 66.7 percent (8-12) free throws. The Tigers had 14 assists to go along with 15 turnovers.

It was the Tigers who used their 3-point shooting to jump out to a 12-6 lead in the first four minutes. NDC would fight back and go on a 13-3 run to take a four point lead on a Raphie Tekie 3-pointer. The Falcons would lead by as many as 10 in the opening half but take a slim 41-36 halftime lead.

The Tigers would close the gap to one (54-53) seven minutes into the second half. The Falcons would then stretch the lead to 12 (67-55) on a pair of Ensz free throws at the 5:40 mark. The Tigers would male another run but the Falcons would seal it by going 28 of 31 at the foul line in the second half.

The Falcons will look for a rare season sweep of Malone when they head to Canton Saturday. Tip time is set for 4 PM.

Falcons Fly Past OSU-Lima.

The Notre Dame Falcons put together probably it's best performance of the season Monday night in a 102-46 rout of Ohio State Lima.

The Falcons (7-14) snapped a two game losing skid at Murphy Gym Monday night. Six Falcons scored in double figures on the evening. Lawrence DeArmond posted 16 points to lead the way for NDC. Taylor Reiger (15), Troy Baugh (14), Raphi Tekie (12), Marcquice Taylor (11), and Phil Biggs (10) all netted double figure scoring nights. The Falcons shot 50 percent from the field and hit 9 of 27 from the 3-point line. The Falcons were 11-14 at the free throw line. They dominated the rebounding battle 46-30. NDC had 19 assists to just nine turnovers for the game. The win evened the Falcons home record at 5-5 on the year.

The Barons fell to 6-18 with the lopsided loss. They had a pair of players score in double figures. Ryan Downton led the way with 14 points, while Brady Schroeders added 12. The Barons stuggled both from the field (36 percent) and from the 3-point line (20 percent). They were 7-9 at the foul line. The Barons had a hard time taking care of the ball with just 5 assists and 30 turnovers.

The Falcons led by 16 after the first 14 minutes, the Falcons scored 47 points in the opening half which was the most for NDC since playing OSU Mansfield on December 17th. The Falcons shot 56 percent from the field in the opening half and led 47-22.

The second half was also dominated by NDC. The biggest lead of the game was 40 points at the 10 minute mark. The Falcons will be back in action Wednesday night when they host Salem International (West Virginia). Tip time is set for 7 PM at Murphy Gym.

Falcons Stung Again.

The Notre Dame Falcons (6-14) could not find there stroke from the 3-point line and were stung for a second time this season by the Cedarville Yellow Jackets 70-57 at Murphy Gym.

The Falcons who have been solid from three much of the season were just 1 of 16 from the 3-point line Saturday. Marcquice Taylor was the only Falcon to score in double figures with 18 points. Phil Biggs added nine points and nine rebounds, while Lawrence DeArmond also tallied nine points. The Falcons shot 44 percent from the field and only made 62 percent (8-13) at the free throw line. The Falcons had only eight assists as a team. They turned the ball over 17 times.

With the win Cedarville stretched it's current winning streak to four. The Jackets improved to 14-7 on the season. The Jackets had a pair of players score double figures. Zimmy Nwogbo led the Jackets with 17 points to go along with eight rebounds. Austin Foote chipped in 14 and Marcus Reineke tallied nine. Cedarville shot 42 percent from the field in just it's fourth road win of the season. The Yellow Jackets shot 9 of 25 from the 3-point line. They did get hot in the second half, going 5 of 11. They made good on 79 percent at the foul line (15-19). The Jackets won the battle of the boards 38-32. Cedarville had 14 assists as opposed to 15 turnovers.

The Jackets never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 13-2 lead right out of the gate. The Falcons ran off the next six points and cut the lead to five (13-8) on a DeArmond lay up with 10:11 in the opening half. The Jackets would built another double digit lead but the Falcons would once again get within five (24-19). Cedarville would then go on a 14-3 run to open up a 16 point lead (38-22.) The Falcons would score the last bucket of the half and trail 38-24 at the intermission.

Both teams would come out cold in the second half. Austin Foote would hit a three to give the Yellow Jackets a 17 point lead nearly two minutes into the frame. NDC would not get any closer than 10 the rest of the way.

The Falcons will be back in action when they host Ohio State Lima on Monday. Tip time is set for 6 PM at Murphy Gym.

Tiffin's Big Second Half Stops Falcons.

The Tiffin Dragons used a big second half to hand the Notre Dame Falcons a sixth consecutive road loss 94-81 Wednesday evening.

The Dragons improved to 10-12 on the season with the victory. The hot shooting Dragons got 31 points, including seven 3-pointers from Joe Graessle. He also had nine assists in the contest to go along with seven rebounds. Travis Spahr added 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting from the floor for the home team. Karl Finley rounded out the double digit scorers with 15. The Dragons shot 57 percent from the field in the contest. They were 10-21 from the 3-point line. The Dragons struggled at the foul line shooting 67 percent (16-24). Tiffin dominated the glass 38-28. They had 29 assists and 15 turnovers as a team.

NDC fell to 6-13 on the season. The Falcons had five players score double figures on the evening. Phil Biggs led the way with another double-double (18 points and 12 rebounds), while Troy Baugh added 13 in just 16 minutes of action. Marcquice Taylor and Raphie Teke netted 12 points each, while Taylor Reiger contributed 11 in the loss. The Falcons shot 50 percent from the floor and hit 45 percent (8-18) from the 3-point line. The Falcons shot just 60 percent (9-15) at the foul line. They had 21 assists as a team and turned it over 13 times.

The first half was a sea saw battle. The Falcons led by as many as six in the opening half. Phil Biggs scored the last five points of the opening half to give NDC a 37-31 halftime lead. The second half would be all Dragons. After hitting just two of 10 3-pointers in the opening half, the Dragons caught fire from 3-point land in the second half. Graessle hit three consecutive 3-

pointers and the Dragons had a 42-39 advantage.

The Falcons would take the lead 48-46 after a Nate Ensz bucket with just over 16 minutes to go. The Dragons would then go on a 12-0 spurt to take a 58-48 lead three minutes later. The Falcons would counter with a 13-0 run of their own to take a 61-58 lead on a Reiger three. Tiffin would then score the next seven to go back up 65-61. The Falcons would score on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to two. Tiffin would then go on a 11-2 run to go up 76-65. The Falcons would get as close as five (82-77) but the defense could not get enough stops to get over the hump for NDC.

The Falcons will be back in action Saturday when they welcome Cedarville to Murphy Gym. Tip time is set for 4 PM.