Falcons Tame Mountain Lions in Home Opening Win.

The Notre Dame Falcons used a huge second half to take the 2014-15 home opener 86-76 over Concord at Murphy Gym on Saturday afternoon. The win improved the Falcons to 3-1 on the season, while the Mountain Lions fell to 2-1.  The game was the first in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) for both teams.
  The Falcons were paced by Tyree Gaiter with a game high 30 points.  It was the second straight game the Cleveland Heights product put up at least 30 points. He went 14 of15 at the foul line on the day.  Gaiter also dished out five assists in 39 minutes.  Kyauta Taylor bounced back from a rough shooting night in Columbus against Ohio Dominican early in the week and netted 16 points Saturday.  Taylor was seven of 12 from the field and two of three from the 3-point line.  This coming after a 1-7 night in Columbus the last time out.  Lawrence DeArmond tallied 15, and Will Vorhees chipped in 10.  
  The Mountain Lions were paced by Mike Boyd and Jametrius Wade with 15 points each.  Terry Hopewell added a double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds) while Aaron Miller scored 13.
   The opening half saw the lead change hands five times and neither team led by more than six points.
  The second half started much like the first, as neither team got a lead bigger than three in the first ten minutes.  With 9:40 to go Concord took a one point lead (60-59) before the Falcons would go on a 8-0 spurt to take the lead for good with 8:03 to play.  The Falcons biggest lead was 11 (77-66) after a Vorhees 3-pointer at the 3:44 mark.  The Mountain Lions would not go away as they would trim the lead to three (77-74) with  1:19 remaining.  Taylor would bury a crucial 3-pointer and Gaiter would seal it at the free throw line for the Falcons.  
  The Mountain Lions shot 48 percent to the Falcons 46 percent.  This after Concord shot 67 percent in the opening half.  The Falcons shot 29 percent from the 3-point line while the Mountain Lions shot 30 percent.  A big deciding factor in the game was the free throw line. The Mountain Lions shot 68 percent (17-25) while the Falcons shot 88 percent (15-17.)  The Mountain Lions out rebounded NDC 37-34.  The Mountain Lions had 13 assists to 12 for the Falcons.  NDC only turned the ball over 8 times while the Mountain Lions had 18 miscues.
  The Falcons will be back in action Monday when they battle Virginia Wise at Murphy Gym. Tip time is set for 4 PM.