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Falcons fine in AMC opener at Point Park
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PITTSBURGH – Notre Dame finished a program-best second in last years AMC North Division race en route to their first-ever postseason appearance. On Saturday at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, the Falcons started this year's conference campaign with a victory. NDC defeated PPU, 82-74.

NDC was led by the backcourt duo of Jerome Pierce (Sr/Toledo, OH)and Kyle Miller (Jr/Piketon, OH), who scored 23 and 22 points, respectively. The road win is Notre Dame's first of the year (they are 1-0 at neutral sites), and it snaps a two-game losing streak.

Notre Dame (6-11, 1-0) went against their recent history Saturday afternoon with a solid first half showing. The Falcons jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and shot 55.6 percent (15-for-27) from the field on their way to a 41-31 lead at halftime.

In the second, a mid-half 22-12 run by Point Park (9-8, 0-1) cut the NDC lead to three (60-57) by 9:12. Notre Dame answered with four straight points from Miller. Then, PPU went on an 8-3 run capped off by a 3-point play by senior guard Chivas Whipple (Youngstown, OH) at 4:05.

This time, it was Pierce's turn to recapture momentum for the Falcons. NDC's leading scorer drilled a three at 3:46 on an assist from Miller. Moments later, Pierce would connect on two free throws to give NDC a 72-65 lead at 3:09.

Free throws were a major factor for NDC in the second half. The Falcons continued to shoot the ball well (60.0 percent, 12-for-20) in the second, but they did a lot of damage at the charity stripe. Notre Dame made 19 trips to the line in the second, connecting on 15 (78.9 percent). For the game, NDC attempted a season-high 28 free throws. The Falcons average 18.0 free throw attempts per game this season.

Pierce went 6-of-7 from the line; Miller went 6-of-6, with all six of his attempts coming in the last eight minutes of the game.

Senior forward Keith Bowden (Akron, OH) scored 13 points an a 5-for-7 afternoon. Bowden also notched a personal season-high four steals in the game. The Falcons, as a team, matched a season-high with 11 thefts. Many of NDC's steals produced points at the other end; the Falcons scored 24 points off PPU turnovers.

Point Park was led by senior forward Dan Muto (Pittsburgh, PA), who poured in a game-high 32 points on a 13-of-21 shooting performance that included five treys. The Pioneers shot 41.8 percent (28-for-67) from the floor as a team. They out-rebounded NDC, 34-30, with Whipple leading the way with 11 boards. Whipple also scored 20 points.

"We did some things well today, things we have worked hard on in recent weeks over the holidays," said NDC Head Coach Kevin Bille. "It was good to see the way we started out, and I like the way guys stepped up to answer the call several times in the second half. It's good to start out conference play like this, in a road game especially."

The game against the Pioneers closes out a six-game road swing for the Falcons, who went 2-4 in a four-week stretch that included games in Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, and Pennsylvania. The Falcons return to College Road Wednesday, Jan. 16, for beginning of what will be a four-game home stand. They'll face Roberts Wesleyan (NY) Wednesday at 8:00pm. The game will be aired tape-delay on SportsTime Ohio Thursday at 10:00pm.

Notes from the Nest...

JP2K: Jerome Pierce's 3-pointer with 3:46 remaining Saturday gave the Falcons' senior point guard 2,000 points for his career. Pierce is NDC's first player to reach the 2,000-point plateau. He became the program's all-time leading scorer back on Dec. 1, when he scored his 1,829th career point, passing the previous record-holder, Dave Hilborn (2001-05). For the season, Pierce is averaging 20.2 per game, which ranks third in the 14-team AMC.

Points well taken: NDC's 82 points Saturday mark the most they have scored in a game since Dec. 1 (109-84 win over Rio Grande). The Falcons are now 4-1 when they score 80 or more points in a game. NDC averages 76.3 points per game (10th, AMC).

Finding their arc: Notre Dame went 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc Saturday (Pierce went 5-of-7). For the season, the Falcons rank third in the AMC with a mark of 38.9 percent (140-for-360). Pierce is shooting 39.1 percent (72-for-184) for the season; he leads the AMC in 3-pointers made (72). Freshman guard Eric Maag (Columbus Grove, OH) is shooting 40.5 percent (30-for-74) from 19-nine.