SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Men's basketball was downed by Notre Dame College, 90-79, Saturday afternoon in non-conference action. The Bears had four players score in double figures, including 22 points from Trevor Banks and 20 points from Mark Bryant. However, Notre Dame's starters each scored in double figures during the victory.
In a balanced scoring output from the hosts, the Falcons got a game-high 23 points from Lawrence DeArmond while Tyree Gaiter and Jarvis Huntley scored 19 and 18 points, respectively. Notre Dame's final two starters finished with 15 and 10 points.
Shawnee State's two leading scorers Banks and Bryant each finished with double-doubles as Bryant pulled down 12 rebounds in addition to his 20 points while Banks added 10 rebounds with his 22 points. Andrew Bendolph added 13 points to the offense while Devon Carter finished with 11 points.
The game started out very evenly matched as the two sides were tied on six different occasions in the opening 9:13 of playing time. The final tie of the game came with the score 21-all. Bryant hit a jumper on the ensuing possession to put his team up by two. Notre Dame answered with a free throw from Huntley and a basket from DeArmond on the next two possessions and took a lead they would never give back.
With Bryant's jumper coming with 9:37 on the clock, the Bears found themselves in a brief cold spell from the field and trailing by eight points, 31-23, before a layup from Ethan Moffatt at the 6:32 mark broke the three minute scoreless stretch.
Shawnee State rallied back into the game with an 10-3 edge in scoring over the next three minutes starting with Moffatt's basket that brought the Bears back within a point, 34-33, with 3:42 to play in the opening half. However, the final run of the opening half would belong to Notre Dame as it scored eight of the final 12 points to take a 42-37 lead into the half.
The Falcons scored on their first three possessions of the second half to take a 10-point lead, 49-39, for the first time in the game. Banks brought the deficit down to eight points with a jumper but Notre Dame continued to push the offensive tempo and stretched its lead to 57-41 with 15:26 to play in the game. Notre Dame's lead would continue to grow in the following minutes and the Falcons led by as many as 20, 69-49, with 11:16 to play.
Just when it looked like Notre Dame was going to run away with the game. Banks got some momentum back on the Bears' side with a three while Kai Turner added two points in the paint on the next possession. Bendolph hit a free throw on the next trip down while Bryant added a layup and all of a sudden the Bears were down by a much more manageable 12 points with 9:11 to play.
Shawnee State continued to hold Notre Dame down offensively during the stretch and Banks would drain a three to get the game back to a single digit deficit with 7:06 to play. Notre Dame hit a jumper on the next possession to snap its stretch of 4:50 without a basket.
Banks answered those points plus one with another three right after. He would then get to the line on the next possession. He hit both to give him eight points during three consecutive possessions in a span of 1:19. Bendolph would then get in the paint and hit a layup and SSU trailed by just four, 71-67, with 5:22 to go in the game.
Just when they needed them most, the Falcons got back-to-back threes that stopped the Shawnee State momentum swing and pushed the lead back to 10 points. Back-to-back baskets from Bryant and Turner would get the deficit back to six. However, the closest the Bears would come in the final four minutes came after a jumper from Bryant made it a five point game, 81-76, with 1:42 to play. Notre Dame would get to the free throw line to avoid the game becoming any closer and prevailed with a 90-79 win at the final buzzer.
Men's basketball will be back in action for the final home contest of the 2013 calendar year at Shawnee State when it takes on Berea at 2 p.m. After that contest the Bears will have just one road trip to UC Clermont before breaking from competition over the holidays.
