High ground
Falcons beat Highlanders in AMC North battle
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SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame remained unbeaten in conference play Saturday with a 74-67 win over American Mideast Conference (AMC) North Division foe Houghton College (NY).  Notre Dame point guard Jerome Pierce (Sr/Toledo, OH) scored 30-plus points for a second straight game, as the Falcons won their third straight game.

Notre Dame (8-11, 3-0) and Houghton (6-9, 0-2) played evenly in the first 15 minutes of the game.  The Falcons played pressure defense in matching the Highlanders’ defense-minded five.  Houghton came into Saturday’s tilt with the AMC’s top-ranked defense, allowing 67.9 points per game.

In the final minutes of the opening stanza, Notre Dame surged ahead with solid defense and excellent shooting.  The Falcons made seven of their final nine attempts in the half, including a 24-foot buzzer-beater trey off the fingertips of Pierce.  Pierce, coming off a season-high 34 points in the Falcons’ Jan. 16 win over Roberts Wesleyan, hit for four 3-pointers and 17 points in the first. 

The Pierce trey as time expired in the first gave NDC a 40-26 lead at the half.  The Falcons, as a team shot 59.3 percent (16-for-27) in the opening frame.

Notre Dame scored the first six points of the second half to take a 20-point lead (46-26) by 18:50.  Houghton answered with a 7-0 run before Pierce found Paul Spencer (Fr/Mandeville, Jamaica) on the left block for a basket at the 14-minute mark.

Sophomore guard Ben Kopp (Franklinville, NY) keyed the Houghton effort in the surge.  Kopp finished the game with a team-high 22 points, after scoring just six in the first half.

By the mid-point of the second period, Notre Dame held a 58-41 lead.  Sophomore forward Yannick Anzuluni (Ottawa, ONT) cut the NDC lead to 12 when he hit a trey from the left wing at 7:15.

Sophomore forward Mada Abdelhamid (Auckland, New Zealand) dropped a 17-footer moments later, at 5:40, to bring the Highlanders within eight, 62-54.

With two minutes remaining, the Falcons clung to a 69-63 lead.  A pair of free throws by Anzuluni at 1:37 cut the NDC lead to four. 

Junior forward Dan Jones (Niles, OH) scored a bucket at 1:15 to rebuild the Notre Dame six-point advantage.  After both teams exchanged trips to the foul line, Houghton came down the floor down 72-67 with 40 seconds remaining.  The Highlanders misfired and then fouled Pierce, who knocked down two free throws to give the Falcons a 74-67 lead at 0:25.

After a defensive stop, Notre Dame finished out their eighth victory of the season.

Pierce’s 33 led the Falcons.  The senior playmaker went 11 for 16 from the floor.  Notre Dame shot 54.9 percent (28-for-51) in the game.  He has now scored 90 points over his last three games.

Junior guard Kyle Miller (Piketon, OH)added 15 points for NDC. Dan Jones added eight points and five boards.  Notre Dame had a season-low 23 rebounds in being out-rebounded, 30-23.

Yannick Anzuluni posted 21 points and 13 for Houghton, which came into Saturday’s game having won two of their last three.

“This was a good win for us,” said Head Coach Kevin Bille.  “I like our defensive intensity, especially in the beginning of the game.  In conference play, playing a full forty is a big key for us.”

The win preserves NDC’s unbeaten mark in the North Division.  The Falcons are now 3-0 in the circuit. NDC will now play two out-of conference games before resuming with AMC play Feb. 2.  The Falcons’ next game is slated for Wednesday, Jan. 23 – NDC will host the Racers of Northwestern Ohio in the second half of a women’s-men’s basketball doubleheader at Murphy Gymnasium.  The men’s tip is scheduled for 8:00pm.

NOTES FROM THE NEST…

MARKSMEN:  Notre Dame’s hot shooting Saturday seems to be part of a trend.  In their last three games, the Falcons have hit for 57.4, 56.9, and 54.9 percent.  In that stretch, Falcon shooters are finding the bottom of the net to the tune of 56.4 percent (88-for-156).  In those same three games combined, the Falcons are shooting 49.0 percent (24-for-49) from 3-point range… NDC’s hot shooting came at the expense of a Houghton squad which came into Saturday’s game as the top-ranked defense in the AMC.  The Highlanders had been yielding just 67.9 points per contest.

BULLSEYE:  Jerome Pierce is 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) from beyond the arc in Notre Dame’s last three games.  The 5-foot-8 veteran guard is averaging 30.0 points in that stretch and 21.6 points for the season.  He ranks second in the AMC in scoring.  For the season, Pierce is shooting 41.6 percent (85-for-203) from 3-point range… Saturday’s 33-point performance marked the 11th 30-point game of Pierce’s four-year NDC career.

HIGHLAND FLUNG :  NDC now leads the all-time series between the two teams. 8-5. The Falcons have won seven straight against the Highlanders.