PND Scores 56-36 Win at Western

Article presented by Rathkamp Financial …

Portsmouth Notre Dame overcame a 27-17 deficit at halftime to spoil Western’s Homecoming Night with a 56-36 win in Southern Ohio Conference I action Friday night in Latham.

The Titans’ big three combination of Carter Campbell (20 points), Dominic Sparks (16 points) and Cody Metzler (8 points) gave Notre Dame the lift it needed for the victory.

The Indians gave their fans a flashback to last season’s tournament run in a 17-4 second quarter using stingy defense to create turnover opportunities and pinpoint shooting from beyond the arc. The run resulted in a ten point advantage.

The magic Western found in the second period evaporated at the half as PND capitalized on mistakes by the Indians. After Western took a 16-15 lead on a Drew Haggy three-ball early in the second, the Indians applied pressure full court and managed to win the battle of the boards defensively. They limited the Titans to just four points over the eight minute span, pulling away for the 10-point spread at the intermission.

Then, something clicked for Notre Dame. The Titans seemingly couldn’t miss while Western couldn’t find the gear it had played with in the previous period. Campbell dropped in some back door baskets, netting 14 of his game high 20 points. Sparks had tied the game on a put back and then regained the lead for Notre Dame midway through the third at 31-29 with a pair of free throws.

Notre Dame was efficient from the charity stripe, sinking 7-of-8 shots. Meanwhile, the momentum swing had Western going in the wrong direction. They managed just 1-of-9 shots from the line and finished the third period with a meager two points to show for their effort.

The trend continued in the fourth quarter as PND outscored the Indians 15-7 for the win.

Notre Dame improved to 7-2 in the SOC I while Western slipped to 4-5 in the conference. Landon Barbartis and Myles Phillips rounded out the Titans’ scoring with six points each. The Tribe was lead by Haggy’s 15 points, followed by Chas Carter’s 7 points. Kam Janes and Zach Reed had four each while Logan Lightle and David Rodriguez both had 3 points apiece.

PND improves to 10-5 over all and Western evens at 9-9. The two clubs meet again in Portsmouth February 14th.

Up next, both teams face conference foe Glenwood. The Indians will host the Tigers this Tuesday and the Titans travel to New Boston Friday.