Box Score

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Junior guard Derek McKnight (Teaneck, NJ/Gaston (N.C.) Day School/Louisburg CC) scored a career-high 23 points to lead Shepherd University (9-6, 5-4 MEC) to a 94-91 win over Notre Dame (4-11, 2-7 MEC) in MEC men's basketball action at Notre Dame on Thursday night.

McKnight hit on 7-of-12 field goals with a 5-of-7 effort from three-point range. He was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore guard Thomas Lang (New Market, Md./Linganore) added 16 points and a career-high eight assists, while senior guard Steffen Davis (Accokeek, Md./Maret School)  tossed in 15 points.

Senior forward AJ Carr (Fairfax, Va./St. James School) added 13 points and seven rebounds and junior forward Winston Burgess (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) contributed 13 points and six boards.

Kyauta Taylor scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Falcons. Levi Frankland added 18 points, while Halil Parks had 14.

Shepherd had a 49-48 advantage at the break as McKnight (14) and Lang (9) combined for 25 first-half points.

Shepherd led by as many as seven points late in the second half, but Notre Dame rallied to within a point at 92-91 after a pair of free throws by Drew Scarberry with six seconds left. Carr drained a pair of foul shots in the final seconds to seal the win for the Rams.

Shepherd connected on 55.6 percent (35-63) from the floor with a 46.9 percent (15-32) performance from beyond the arc for the game. The Rams hit on 81.8 percent (9-11) of their free throws.

Notre Dame shot 54.1 percent (33-61) from the floor with a 46.2 percent effort (18-39) from three-point range. The Falcons shot 77.8 percent (7-9) from the charity stripe.

Notre Dame had a 30-28 advantage in rebounding. The Rams forced 11 turnovers and committed six.

The Rams return to action on Saturday when they travel to Urbana for a 4 p.m. contest.