Cards Knock Off Falcons.

If you needed a microcosm of the Notre Dame Falcons season they provided it for you on Saturday night.  NDC lost 78-69 on the road to Wheeling Jesuit.  The same Cardinals team that the Falcons beat by 15 at Murphy Gym.  On this night the Falcons had a nine point halftime lead but could not hang on and lost for the seventh time in eight tries on the road in the campaign.
  NDC (10-8 6-6 MEC) was led by Tyree Gaiter who had a game high 21 points.  Kyauta Taylor added 19- while Lawrence DeArmond posted a 13 point effort.  Will Vorhees whose return sparked a pair of recent Falcons wins had a rough night.  He had seven points-and- nine rebounds, going just 2-14 from the floor in the loss.
 The Falcons shot 36 percent from the floor- 34 percent from the 3-point line- and- 77 percent (13-17) at the free throw line.  They had more turnovers (13) than assists (10) in the defeat.
  The Cardinals (9-7 5-6 MEC) were led by former Mentor star and Ohio Mr.Basketball Justin Fritts with 22 points- Eric Siefert added 18- while Haywood Highsmith notched 14.  The Cards shot 43 percent from the floor- 41 percent from the 3-point line- and- 64 percent (21-33) at the free throw line.  The Cards won the rebounding battle 46-37.  They had 22 assists and 13 turnovers.
   The game got off to a very slow start as both teams had trouble scoring in the early going. After NDC had more than a four minute drought the Cardinals led 15-10 at the 10:46 mark of the opening half.  a 3-pointer by Oliver Meggins would get the Falcons going.  NDC would take a 25-23 lead on a 3-pointer by Taylor at the 5:39 mark.  Fritts would answer with a 3-pointer for the Cardinals to give them the lead back.
 Taylor would then score the next 11 points as NDC would take a 33-26 lead with 2:49 until halftime. The Falcons would ultimately take a nine point lead (35-26)  after a DeArmond basket right before halftime.
  The Cardinals would respond by scoring the first 12 points of the second half to take a 38-35 advantage.  NDC sparked by Gaiter would score the next six points and led by three (41-38.)  The next segment of the game would belong to the Cardinals.  They would lead by six before Gaiter and Taylor would each score to get the Falcons within two (54-52) midway thru the second half.
 A pair of Vorhees free throws for the Falcons would knot the game at 60 at the 7:11 mark.  The Falcons would then go on another scoring drought, this one for about two minutes and the Cards would take a 64-60 lead.  NDC would then go ice cold over the next several minutes and the Cards would build a 10 point lead (71-61) with 1:12 to go. NDC would get to within five but that is as close as they would get.
 NDC will be back in action Thursday night when the fifth ranked Hilltoppers of West Liberty comes to Murphy Gym. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.