FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Doug Roorbach, Sports Information Director 585.567.9556

Highlanders Edged by Notre Dame 

(South Euclid, Ohio)—The Houghton College men fought their way back from a 20-point deficit to trail by just four with less than a minute to go, but couldn’t close the gap and fell to the Notre Dame Falcons 74-67 Saturday afternoon.

            Notre Dame enjoyed a single-digit lead through the first 18 minutes of the game, then put on a 15-3 run in the two minutes before and one minute after halftime to lead by 20 (46-26).

            The Highlanders weren’t done, though. Ben Kopp (left) shot eight-for-13 from the field, including four-of-seven from three-point range—plus hit two-for-two free throws—on the way to a team-best 22 points (16 in the second half).

            Yannick Anzuluni also had 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Houghton as they continued to chip away at the Falcons’ lead.

            “Kopp really energized our comeback by his aggressive offensive performance,” said Zarges, “and Yannick was very big.”

            With 57 seconds left, the Highlanders were poised to overtake the Falcons, but Jerome Pierce came up big, as he had all game. He hit three free throws in the last minute to top off a 33-point game.

            Zarges also praised sophomore center Mada Abdelhamid. “Every time he touched [the ball] they double-teamed him,” Zarges said. “Still, he got 14 points.” Abdelhamid was four-of-nine from the field and a perfect six-for-six from the free-throw line.

            Despite the loss, Zarges felt good about his team’s comeback. “I think we grew up in the second half,” said Highlander head coach Brad Zarges, “We definitely took some steps forward.”

            Houghton—now 6-9 (0-2 in the American Mideast Conference North Division)—faces another tough AMC North road game at rival Roberts Wesleyan on Tuesday at 7:30 before returning to the Nielsen Center to host Malone College next Saturday at 4 p.m.

---