SOUTH BEND, In.- The Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 59-43 on Tuesday night.

The game began with the Dolphins (7-4) and the Fighting Irish tied at seven a piece through the first media timeout. The back-and-forth action continued throughout the opening part of the game, as neither side allowed the other to pull away.
 
JU had a seven-point run that began after five minutes that was capped by a Dylan O'Hearn three pointer at the 11:14 mark. Marcus Hammond of the Fighting Irish helped close the gap for Notre Dame and with just over eight minutes to play in the first half, gave ND their second lead of the game. JU immediately bounced back with a Jordan Davis three-ball and the two sides exchanged made shots as the half wound down. Davis hit another three pointer with just over three minutes left to finish off both sides scoring and Notre Dame took a two point lead into the half.
 
The beginning of the second half started in similar fashioned to how the first half ended as both teams couldn't seem to separate from one another. The half started when Omar Payne hit a turnaround jumper that tied the game at 21, and the Fighting Irish answered immediately with a three ball to retake the lead. JU then hit back-to-back buckets and the two sides continued to alternate small flurries of points in the opening stages of the second half.
 
Notre Dame's defense then began to heat up and their offense complimented the effort as the Irish seemingly made a run to clinch the victory. JU had trouble putting in their chances as the disciplined ND defense prevented the Dolphins from scoring any buckets in the final 7:31 of the game.The Dolphins shot what was their first free throw attempt of the contest with just 5:06 remaining in the game as Powell sunk both tries to cut the Jacksonville deficit to less than 10. However, the Irish seemed to have answers on both sides of the court as the game concluded
 
UP NEXT
 
Jacksonville travels to Fort Meyers, Florida for a New Year's Eve matinee against Florida Golf Coast as both sides begin conference play. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
 
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS
 
Kevion Nolan's nine rebounds were the most he's recorded in a game this season
Omar Payne also recorded nine boards, which is one fewer than his season high.
Powell led the team in scoring with 12 points, he was also a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe.