FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Cole VonHandorf scored 27 points in tonight's contest to lift Fairmont State over Notre Dame, 85-83, inside Joe Retton Arena. The Fighting Falcons are now 11-2 on the season and 6-2 in Mountain East Conference play.

VonHandorf scored a layup with 41 second remaining in regulation and earned a trip to the free-throw line after being awarded a foul on his drive. VonHandorf knocked his free throw attempt to put the Falcons ahead 81-78 as Fairmont State earned the 85-83 victory on Saturday.

The Falcons were led in scoring by VonHandorf with 27 points on an efficient 7-10 from the field and hitting four three-pointers in the contest. Isaiah Sanders joined his teammate in 20+ points category with 23 points on 7-16 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe. Zyon Dobbs almost finished with a triple-double as he had 10 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in the game. Georg Mangas rounded out the Fairmont scorers in double figures with 10 points. Seth Younkin was effective as well with eight points and securing eight boards.

The Fighting Falcons came out on fire in the first half as Fairmont State pushed their lead to 12 points off a fastbreak layup by Seth Younkin with 8:58 remaining in the first. Notre Dame cut into the lead quickly as NDC went on 7-0 run over the next two minutes to make Fairmont State's advantage to 30-25. Notre Dame knotted the score at 32 apiece off a jumper from Michael Sampson and NDC took their first lead of the half at the 2:01 mark via a jumper from Jaedon Willis. Notre Dame entered the halftime break up 39-35 after Willis hit a three-pointer before time expired.

Fairmont State entered the second half on a mission as VonHandorf started the scoring surge with a three-pointer to cut into Notre Dame's lead. Sanders once again proved crucial in the second half as he gave the Falcons the 45-43 lead off a fastbreak three-pointer after an emphatic dunk from Younkin on their previous offensive possession.

Sanders collected in second three-pointer make in consecutive shots to push the Fighting Falcon advantage back to five points with 14:47 left in the second half. VonHandorf extend the margin to nine points for the Falcons as he drained another three at the 10:06 mark. Notre Dame did not go away as they trimmed the margin back down to two points off a three-pointer from Michael Kirkland and retook the 75-74 lead via a three-pointer from Willis. Briggs Parris connected on two free throws to give the momentum and advantage back in favor of Fairmont State at 76-75 and Mangas connected on a jump to give the Falcons the three-point cushion.

Jaedon Willis answered for Notre Dame to tie the score at 78 apiece, but VonHandorf proved to be clutch in the last minute of the game with his layup and added point at the charity stripe with 41 seconds remaining.

Notre Dame's Willis collected 23 points in the contest going 9-16 from the field as Tyland Crawford (14 points) and Michael Kirkland (13 points) joined him in double-figures. Kirkland went a perfect 6-6 from the floor with four rebounds.

Fairmont State shot 44.8% from the field as a team with nine three-point makes. The Fighting Falcons also went 24-32 from the free-throw line. The Falcons assisted on 18 of their 26 baskets in the contest.

Fairmont State (11-2, 6-2 MEC) is back in Joe Retton Arena on Wednesday, January 12th at 7:30 p.m. when the Falcons host Wheeling University (4-10, 3-5 MEC).

Join Head Men's Basketball Coach Tim Koenig and Voices of the Falcons Travis Jones and Duane Cochran at the Brickside Tavern in Fairmont at the Country Club for the Tim Koenig radio show on Monday night on SKY 106.5 FM or here. The show is sponsored all season long by Valley Distributing.