Falcons fall flat
Bearcats thrash Falcons with 10-0 run
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SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame lost their third straight game Friday, in a first-round exit as the host team of the Holiday Inn Tournament.  The Falcons were beaten by a solid St. Vincent (PA) team, which came to College Road for the weekend tournament with just one loss on its season.  The Bearcats defeated the Falcons, 73-63.

The loss is NDC’s sixth in their last seven games. It also runs the Falcons’ home mark to 3-4.  NDC sported a 16-3 record on their home hardwood a year ago.

As for the opening moments of Friday’s game, the floor belonged to the Bearcats.  St. Vincent opened the game with a 10-0 run over the game’s first two minutes.  The Bearcats’ leading scorer, Ian McCollough (Sr/Springdale, MD), connected on four of his first five attempts, scoring 10 points in the opening seven minutes of the game.  McCollough, who’s averaging 18.2 points per game this season, scored 13 in the first half.

By the 10-minute mark, St. Vincent (7-1) had opened up a 33-17 lead over the Falcons, who committed early turnovers and were dominated on the glass.  In the first frame, Notre Dame (3-7) turned the ball over 11 times against a swarming Bearcat defense.  SVC opened up a 20-point lead by 5:20, doubling up the Falcons in shot attempts.  In the first half, the Bearcats out-rebounded Notre Dame, 20-10, in claiming a 45-25 lead on the Murphy Gymnasium scoreboard.

St. Vincent controlled the early minutes of the second frame, keeping their lead at 20.  The Falcons finally cut into the Bearcat advantage, with senior forward Keith Bowden (Akron, OH) hitting a layup from the right block to bring NDC within 14 at 9:10.

The Bearcats kept the Falcons at bay, however, as the second half wore on.  McCollough had another strong period – the 6-foot-2 junior finished with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds.  NDC got as close as eight points in the final three minutes of the contest, but the Bearcats hit foul shots down the stretch to preserve the double-digit win.

For the game, NDC outshot SVC, 51.7 percent (26-for-51) to 37.9 percent (25-for-66).  St. Vincent misfired to the tune of 26.7 percent (8-for-30) in the second half.

“That’s a good team,” said Head Coach Kevin Bille, of St. Vincent.  “They outplayed us, and they were more prepared to play hard from the first whistle.  At the end of the day, this comes back to me – it’s my responsibility to get this team more prepared to play a full forty.”

Sophomore center Karim McFarlane (Portmore, Jamaica) led Notre Dame.  The 6-foot-7 second-year pivot knocked down 16 points, grabbed six rebounds, and collected four blocked shots.  Junior guard Kyle Miller (Piketon, OH) scored 11 points and notched five assists.  Dan Jones (Jr/Niles, OH) also scored 11.

Leading scorer Jerome Pierce (Sr/Toledo, OH) was held to a season-low two points on an 0-for-8 shooting night.

Notre Dame will play the loser of Friday’s Concordia (MI)-Union (KY) game in the tournament’s consolation game Saturday afternoon.  Tip-off is slated for 1:00pm. The Holiday Inn Tournament championship game will follow at 3:00pm.

Notes from the Nest...

So, we meet again:  Friday’s game marked the 11th meeting between Notre Dame and St. Vincent.  The match-up, which dates back to Jan., 2002, has been rather one-sided; the Bearcats are now 10-1 against the Falcons in their 11 meetings.  SVC is a former AMC North foe for NDC.

17 away:  Kyle Miller’s 11–point game against SVC puts him 17 points away from 1,000 career points.  Miller came into Friday’s game averaging 15.3 points per game on the season, which ranks second on the team.  The third-year Falcon also ranks second on the team in rebounds (5.4 rpg) and assists (3.8 apg).

Bad stretch:  The last time Notre Dame lost six games in a seven-game stretch was the middle of the 2005-06 season (Dec. 28 to Jan. 25).