WISE - - Cavalier men were outlasted by Notre Dame College in a hard-fought battle Monday night with the Falcons posting a 97-86 win. Freshman forward Cameron Whiteside finished with a season-high 19 points along with four rebounds.

Freshman guard Briggs Parris followed Whiteside with 16 points and four rebounds. Junior guard Michal Seals netted 15 points along with eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Sophomore forward Jordan Pointer had nine points, four rebounds, and two blocks while freshman forward Kaeleb Carter scored eight points with a season-high 10 rebounds and six assists.

Notre Dame College (4-1, 2-0 MEC) started the game on a 5-0 run before the Cavaliers (3-2, 1-1 MEC) came from behind on a pair of buckets by Seals. After trailing the Falcons, Parris would knock down a three-pointer to knot the game, 11-11, with 16:04 on the clock. A foul by Notre Dame's Kameron Harris would send junior guard Chance Sheffey to the line as he knocked down his first to put the Cavs up, 16-14, at the 14:18 mark. Almost four minutes would pass before either team would score with a free throw by junior forward Tajh Eason cutting the Cavs deficit to just two points with the Falcons ahead 19-17 with 9:33 left in the half. Whiteside would quickly take back the lead for UVa-Wise on back-to-back layups with the scoreboard reading 21-19 at the 9:02 mark. The Cavs would keep the lead until a three by the Falcons' Larenz Thurman gave Notre Dame a 28-26 advantage with 6:39 to go. The teams would continue to trade the lead with a three ball by Parris putting UVa-Wise ahead 32-30 with 5:47 left. Notre Dame would later regain the lead and go ahead by seven points, 42-35, with less than two minutes to play. The Cavs trailed the Falcons 44-39 as the teams went into the half.

UVa-Wise went 13-for-33 (39.4 percent) from the floor in the opening half while the Falcons were 14-for-29 (48.3 percent) from the field. Both teams knocked down five shots from downtown while the Cavs were just 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Falcons would hold onto the lead through the first few minutes before a three pointer by Parris tied the game at 49-49 with a little under 17 minutes to play. UVa-Wise would go ahead on a three-point play by Whiteside putting the Cavs up 61-57 over the Falcons with 12:41 on the clock. The two teams would continue to battle as the game was tied again on a shot by junior forward Eric Okenchi with a little over six minutes to play, 72-72. The visitors would begin to gain momentum, knocking down a series of shots for a nine-point advantage, 84-75, at the three minute mark. The Cavs would utilize a full court press as they looked to make a comeback, down by just six following back-to-back jumpers by Carter and Seals with a little over two minutes to go. The Falcons would push the margin back to double-digits, taking a 90-80 lead with 1:06 left. Notre Dame would close out the night at the free throw line as they pulled away for a 97-86 victory.

Whiteside and Parris both saw double-figures in the second half as Whiteside put up 12 points and Parris had 10. UVa-Wise went 19-for-39 (48.7 percent) in the half, shooting just 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from downtown and 37.5 percent (3-for-8) from the line.

The Cavs were 32-for-72 (44.4 percent) from the floor on the night, but struggled from the free throw line connecting on just 11-of-25 (44 percent) shots. UVa-Wise posted 42 points inside the paint to the Falcons 32. The Cavs were assisted by 24 points off of the bench and totaled 46 rebounds while the Falcons had 15 bench points with 39 boards.

Blake Mellinger's squad will return to action on Saturday as they host the No. 8 Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters. Tip is slated for 4 p.m. inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center.