Vorhees Jumper Lifts NDC Past Shepherd.

The Notre Dame Falcons got a big 87-86 win at Murphy Gym on Thursday night, on the strength of a jumper by Will Vorhees with four seconds left.  The win was the second in a row for NDC. The loss for Shepherd was their third in four contests.  With the win NDC improved to 12-10 overall and 8-8 in the MEC. With the loss the Rams fell to 12-10 overall and 7-9 in the MEC.
    Kayauta Taylor paced the Falcons with 24 points on the night, as all five Falcon starters scored in double figures.  Lawrence DeArmond netted 19- Vorhees scored 17- Tyree Gaiter tallied 12 points and dished out seven assists- while Oliver Meggins nailed three 3-pointer's en route to his 11 points.  The Falcons shot 55 percent as a team (33-60.)  They were also a solid 43 percent (12-28) from the 3-point line.  The Falcons struggled at the foul line, where they shot 60 percent (9-15.)  They did a good job of taking care of the ball in this one. They had 18 assists and just nine turnovers in the contest.
  The Rams had four players score in double figures in the tough loss.  Steffen Davis led the way with 24 points- AJ Carr and Austin Cunningham added 17 each- while Morgan McDonald tallied a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds.)  The Rams shot the ball extremely well from the field, where they shot 53 percent (32-60) and from the 3-point line where they shot 52 percent (11-21.)  This included shooting at a 70 percent clip (7-10) from the 3-point line in the second half.  The Rams were a perfect 11-11 at the free throw line. They out rebounded NDC 32-27.  The Rams had 22 assists and 12 turnovers.
   This one was a see-saw affair from the outset.  The first half saw NDC start the game on a 11-4 run.  That lead did not last long as the Rams would counter with an 11-0 spurt of their own to take a 15-11 lead at the 11:58 mark of the opening half.  Five more lead changes would occur before halftime.  NDC would lead by as many as six (35-29) and would take a five point lead (37-32) into the locker room after a 3-pointer by DeArmond at the first half buzzer.
  The Falcons would use the momentum of the DeArmond buzzer beater and carry it into the second half. Taylor and DeArmond would drain back to back 3-pointers to give NDC a 10 point lead (50-40) with 16:31 left to go.
 The NDC lead would grow to 12 (61-49) after a Gaiter jumper at the 13:16 mark.  Then the Rams would get hot from the 3-point line, where they would shoot 70 percent (7-10) in the second stanza.  The Rams would come all the way back and take a 81-78 lead after a Cunningham 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining.  The two teams would continue to go back and forth until a AJ Carr 3-pointer would give the Rams a 86-85 lead with 16 seconds to play.  Vorhees would then hit what would be the game winner at the four second mark.  Gaiter would steal the inbounds pass to seal the eighth Falcons win in 10 tries at home this season.
NDC will be back in action Saturday when they take on Fairmount State. Tip time at Murphy Gym is set for 3 PM.