Finding their way to first
Falcons earn North crown with win over Daemen
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SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame earned at least a share of the North Division Championship of the  American Mideast Conference (AMC) Saturday with an 84-72 win over Daemen College (NY).  The division crown is the program’s first in its seven-year history.  Senior guard Jerome Pierce (Toledo, OH) scored a personal season-high 39 points to lead the Falcons.

Saturday’s home game, the AMC regular season finale, was a duel for at least a share of the AMC North Division Championship.  The day started with a three-way tie atop the division standings, including both Notre Dame and Daemen, as well as Malone College.

"We challenged our guys to go out and take this," said Head Coach Kevin Bille earning at least a share of the AMC North. "It's another step for this program to take, so I'm happy for our senior players and the rest of our guys. We talk about 'Find a Way' as our slogan. In the last couple weeks of the season, we went out and showed that it's more than talk."

Defense dominated play early on both sides of the floor.  Notre Dame (14-14, 7-3) held a 6-4 lead by the 13-minute mark.  By the mid-point of the half, NDC led 14-9, with both teams shooting under 35 percent.

Out-rebounding the Wildcats, 24-14, in the first, the Falcons took a 35-28 lead into halftime.  Point guard Jerome Pierce scored nearly half of his team’s points in the opening period.  The Falcons’ leading scorer scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the first.

Daemen (16-10, 6-4), which came into the game ranked fourth in the nation in 3-pointers made, hit just one trey in 11 first-half attempts.

In the second, Daemen made a run early, finding their stroke from 3-point range.  By the 15-minute mark, however, NDC still retained a six-point lead, 46-40. 

Pierce drained a three-ball from the right corner at 11:10 to put the Falcons up 10, 56-46.  That jumper kicked off an 18-7 run for NDC.  By the five-minute mark, the Falcons were in control, 71-53.  The Wildcats didn’t have another run in them, and the Blue & Gold played out the final five for a fourth consecutive win.

For the game, NDC outshot Daemen, 49.2 percent (29-for-59) to 41.8 percent (28-for-67). The Falcons out-rebounded the Wildcats, 43-34.

Pierce finished the game shooting 12-of-24 from the floor. The 5-foo-t8 point guard knocked down six treys in 10 attempts. Kyle Miller (Jr/Piketon, OH) added 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Senior forward Keith Bowden (Akron, OH) added eight points and seven boards. Dan Jones (Jr/Niles, OH) and Danny Wright (So/Collins, OH) each hauled down a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Falcons on the glass.

Freshman guard Mujeeb Oridami (Brooklyn, NY) led the Wildcats with 17 points.

After the game, and after NDC players cut down the net to celebrate a program first, Falcon players, coaches and fans were awaiting the result of Saturday's 7:30pm game between Malone and Houghton College (NY). A Malone win would give them a share of the division title alongside NDC. Malone would represent the North in the AMC Championship Game Tuesday, Feb.26 - they would best NDC in the league's second tie-breaker (head-to-head results against the final order of standing).

What was confirmed Saturday, when the Falcon faithful filed out of NDC's Murphy Gymnasium, is that the Blue & Gold would be headed into their second consecutive AMC Postseason. Where and when TBD.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

PEAKS AND VALLEYS: The Falcons' ride to the North Division winner's circle was a rollercoaster one. NDC started off their AMC North campaign 3-0 with three circuit wins in the middle of Jan. The Falcons then dropped three straight in early Feb., including road games at Malone and Daemen. From that point forward, the 3-3 NDC Men went undefeated in their remaining four division tilts.

BILLE BALL:  The secret of their success?  Defense.  Seventeen games into the season, Head Coach Kevin Bille saw an NDC squad yielding 74.4 points per contest, and he felt that was too much.  “We used the holiday break to really work at the way we play defense from whistle-to-whistle,” said Bille.  “We were starting slow in games.   I’m proud of the way this team responded.” …  Heading into Saturday’s game, NDC’s defense had yielded just 64.7 points per game over its last 10.

HOME IMPROVEMENT: Saturday's net-cutting ceremony celebrated the Falcons' first ever share of a division championship. With the win over Daemen coming on College Road, the program also has cause to celebrate their success on their home hardwood of Murphy Gymnasium. NDC is now 10-5 at home this season and 26-8 (.765) at home over the last two seasons. The Blue & Gold went 4-1 in their five AMC North tilts at home this season.

OFF THE MARK: Daemen came into Saturday's game ranked fourth in the nation in 3-pointers made (10.1 per game). Against the Falcons Saturday, the Wildcats managed just six in 29 attempts (20.7 percent).