Fairmount State Wins Battle Of The Falcons.

The Notre Dame Falcons lost for just the third time in 11 tries on the season at home on Saturday. This one a 72-62 loss to Fairmount State at Murphy Gym. Fairmount State won a fifth straight on the road and ninth straight overall.  FSU improved to 17-6 overall and 14-3 in the MEC. With the loss NDC dropped to 12-11 overall and 8-9 in the MEC.
  The Falcons were paced by Tyree Gaiter with 22 points- while Oliver Meggins added 11. NDC shot 43 percent from the field as a team.  The trio of Will Vorhees, Lawrence DeArmond and Kayauta Taylor combined to go just 9-26 on the day.  NDC shot 30 percent (7-23) from the 3-point line- they continued to struggle at the foul line where they shot just 54 percent (7-13.)  The Falcons had 10 assists and 14 turnovers.
  FSU was led by a monster game from Nick Harney.  Harney scored 30 points and snatched 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes- Jamel Morris netted 18 points as he played all 40 minutes.   The Fighting Falcons shot 44 percent as a team- they shot at a 38 percent clip (6-16) from the 3-point line.  The Fighting Falcons were solid at the free throw line where they shot 82 percent (18-22) on the day. FSU won the rebounding battle 40-29.  They had 12 assists and 12 turnovers.
  The game was a back and forth affair until the final minutes that featured six ties and 13 lead changes.  Nine of the 12 lead changes occurred in the game's first 12 minutes.  After a Gaiter layup at the 7:57 mark NDC held a slight 22-21 edge.  The Fighting Falcons would then score 12 of the game's next 14 points.  So at just under six minutes in the half it would be a nine point (33-24) lead for FSU.  NDC would cut the deficit to three (37-34) going into halftime.
  The second half was much like the first.  The first 12 minutes were played rather evenly and the game would be knotted at 58 at just under seven minutes to go.  The next five minutes would see NDC go "ice cold" and the Fighting Falcons would run off the next eight points to lead 66-58 at the 2 minute mark.  Gaiter would hit a pair of free throws for NDC at the 1:04 mark but that is as close as they would get as FSU would ice it at the free throw line.
 NDC will be back at home Thursday night when they battle West Virginia Wesleyan. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM.