Irish Pull Away In Second Half To Defeat Southeastern Louisiana 86-50

Notre Dame led by just eight points at halftime over Southeastern Louisiana before pulling away in the final 20 minutes to defeat the Lions 86-50.

For the second consecutive game an Irish player eclipsed a career-high with junior guard Rex Pflueger being the latest scoring 17 points in the win. Notre Dame held Southeastern Louisiana to 22.2 percent on its second half field goal attempts.

Here is BGI's half-by-half recap of the Irish win.

Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead behind a mid-range jumper by Pflueger and four points from senior forward Bonzie Colson (one basket and two free throws).

Southeastern Louisiana’s Jordan Capps stopped the run before sophomore Irish guard TJ Gibbs and James Currington for the Lions traded baskets to give Notre Dame an 8-4 advantage with 16:15 remaining in the half.

The Lions decided to bring three-fourths pressure on a press and Notre Dame made the Lions pay finding a wide-open Colson in the corner for a three. The Irish took an 11-4 lead into the under-16 media timeout.

Marlain Veal for the Lions got a three-pointer to fall to close the Irish lead to 12-7 before senior Notre Dame point guard got a layup to fall and Gibbs forced a Lions turnover on the next possession leading to two free throws. Gibbs got another steal soon after which led to a nifty layup via a euro-step to give the Irish a 18-7 lead.

Southeastern Louisiana guard Eddy Polanco responded with back-to-back three-pointers to put Notre Dame up 18-13 with 12:46 remaining. But a three from senior point guard Matt Farrell and two free throws via Pflueger pushed the lead back to 23-13 shortly after the under-12 media timeout.

Notre Dame continued to be strong on defense not allowing a Lions point for over two minutes before doing it for over three minutes following a jumper by guard Keith Charleston.

Farrell hit a bucket on the next possession which was followed by a Pflueger three-pointer a couple minutes later giving the Irish a 28-15 edge with 7:27 left in the half. The basket by Pflueger was just the second basket the Irish made over its last eight attempts between the under-12 timeout and under-8 mark.

Notre Dame took a 30-20 after a dunk by senior big man Austin Torres before Southeastern Louisiana went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three. Pflueger answered with a big three-pointer, but the Lions got a layup by Capps on the other end. The Irish advantage sat at 33-28 with 2:30 remaining in the first half.

Farrell went on a quick personal 4-0 run with help of a three-pointer to extend Notre Dame’s lead back to nine with just over a minute-and-a-half to go. The Lions only mustered another point and Notre Dame took a 37-29 lead into the break.

For the half, Notre Dame shot 35.3 percent (12-of-34) including 5-of-15 behind the arc. To counter, the Lions shot 12-of-31 (38.7 percent) including 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from three.

Southeastern Louisiana held a 23-18 edge on the glass including 6-5 on the offensive end.

Farrell led the way for Notre Dame with 11 points with Pflueger adding 10, Colson notching seven and Gibbs getting six.

Notre Dame opened the scoring with a pair of free throws from Pflueger and Gibbs with Capps and Currington getting buckets to keep the Irish lead at (44-31).

A three-pointer from Pflueger was followed by buckets from Farrell and big man Martinas Geben to put the Irish on a 7-0 run heading into the under-16 media timeout (15:32) up 48-33. Farrell hit a pair of free throws to make the run 9-0.

The Irish inflated to 16-0 after Colson knocked down a triple pushing the Irish lead to 57-33 with 13:34 remaining. Baskets by Gibbs and sophomore forward John Mooney also helped fuel the run.

In the first 6:26 of the second half, Notre Dame connected on six of its first nine attempts while the Lions went just 2-of-13 (15.4 percent).

Notre Dame got the run up 18-0 before a pair of free throws from Charleston. The Irish lead reached 28 points after Pflueger came up with a steal and converted a tough layup to give himself a career-high 17 points. The Irish had a 65-37 edge with 10:09 left thanks to a stifling defense that allowed the Lions to make just one of 14 attempts at one point.

Both teams traded baskets essentially over the four minutes with the Irish holding on to a 69-44 lead with under eight minutes to go.

The Irish continued to pull away over the next four minutes thanks to a 7-0 run fueled by free throws by Geben, a free throw by Harvey and baskets via Colson and Gibbs.

Capps went on a 4-0 personal run to get the lead under 30, but the Irish ripped off a 10-0 run which included a basket by walk-on Liam Nelligan to extend the lead to 86-48. Notre Dame would go on to win 86-50.

The Irish shot 51.4 percent (18-of-35) in the second half while holding the Lions to 22.2 percent (8-of-36).

Gibbs led the way for Notre Dame scoring 18 points which was a game-high while Pflueger notched a career-high 17 points. Farrell also added 17 points and Colson rounded out the main scoring with his 31st career double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds). Geben added six points and 10 rebounds.

Capps was the lone Southeastern Louisiana player in double-figures scoring 17 points. Moses Greenwood was next with eight points.

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