Falcons Upset Falls Short In OT.

The Notre Dame Falcons (9-17 7-13 MEC) nearly pulled off a huge upset Saturday. Ultimately the Falcons would fall 100-93 in overtime to the second place team in the conference. The University of Charleston improved to 17-7 and 14-6 in the MEC with the win.
All five NDC starters scored in double figures in what was a sixth straight loss. Lawrence DeArmond paced the Falcons with 27 points- Tyree Gaiter added 19- Geovante Rose netted 15- Jarvis Huntley chipped in 12- and- Kaloma Figueroa-Jackson scored 10.
  The Falcons shot 52 percent (37-71) from the field in the game. They were a solid 46 percent (12-26) from the 3-point line. The Falcons only managed to get to the free throw line eight times. They went seven of eight (88 percent) at the line.  The Falcons out rebounded Charleston 36-32. They had 19 assists and 14 turnovers.
 The Golden Eagles won a fourth consecutive contest.  They had four players score in double figures in the hard fought win. Xavier Humphrey scored a game high 33 points to lead the way- Aleksander Kesic was a perfect 10 of 10 from the floor and five of seven at the foul line to tally 27 points- Fred Simpson netted 14- and- Denzel Douglas had 12.
  The Golden Eagles shot 55 percent (35-64) from the floor in the win. Charleston shot 43 percent (9-21) from the 3-point line. The Golden Eagles struggled at the foul line where they shot 66 percent (21-32) on the day. The Golden Eagles had 22 assists and just eight turnovers.
  The two teams traded runs early. It was the Golden Eagles who scored the game's first five points before the Falcons responded to score the next six. The first half saw seven lead changes and four ties. Neither team would have a lead larger than six in the game's first 20 minutes. Ryan Hickoff would drain a NDC 3-pointer that would spark a 10-2 Falcon run that would give them the lead at the 13:16 mark.  The Falcons would only trail once in the last 13:16 before a pair of Humphrey free throws would tie the game with 10 seconds in the half.
  The second half was hotly contested just like the first. The first 13 minutes would go back and forth. The game would be knotted at 68 at the 7 minute mark. The Falcons would get back to back 3-pointer's from DeArmond and Gaiter to spark a 7-0 run that gave them a 75-68 lead a minute later. The Golden Eagles would erase that deficit in the next 4:40. With 1:20 to go Kesic would tie the game at 82 with a 3-pointer. Neither team would score the rest of regulation and the game would go the extra five minutes.
  The home team dominated the extra session. They scored the first 10 points of the OT to lead 92-82 and would cruise to the 10-93 win.
  NDC will be back in action Tuesday February 25th. It will be senior night as the Falcons will battle Fairmount State at Murphy Gym. Fairmount State was a 78-74 winner in the first meeting back on February 8th. Tip time is set for 7:30 on Tuesday.
 You can catch all the action at NotreDameFalcons.com