Bulldogs give defense a workout, win opener

Notre Dame kept Oak Ridge chasing its own turnovers much of the way Thursday in the Bulldogs' 87-24 win in the first round of the seMissourian Christmas Tournament.

Notre Dame, the No. 2 seed, forced more than 20 turnovers by the No. 15 Bluejays.

"Notre Dame put a lot of pressure on the ball," Oak Ridge coach Paul Lynch said. "We would've had to play an error-free game to have a chance to win."

The Bulldogs held the Bluejays to just 10 points in the first half and didn't let up in the second.

"We guarded well the entire game. It's really easy to slip up in a game like that, but we played well defensively," Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott said.

It helped that the Bulldogs had two more quick players on the floor Thursday in Tyler Cuba and Jonathan Market. Cuba missed most of the season with a hamstring injury and Market has been bothered by illness.

Market scored seven points and played most the game, while Cuba scored just three.

"Tyler is way ahead of where I thought he would be at this point and Jonathan is going to get better every game," Scott said.

Cory Beussink led the Bulldogs, although he only played slightly more than half the game. Beussink, a 6-foot-4 post man, scored 15 and grabbed five rebounds.

Junior Matt Wulfers put in 12 points and had three boards but went down in the third quarter after a hard foul on a layup. An intentional foul was called on the play.

"He was just caught up in the intensity of the game," Wulfers said of the play.

Wulfers will be reevaluated at practice today and Scott said Wulfers is likely to play.

Notre Dame also answered another question mark in the game by outrebounding Oak Ridge 22-14. Leading the Bulldogs off the bench was Joe Dufek, who had seven rebounds.