Christmas Tournament: Notre Dame holds off Leopold in fifth-place bracket

A lethargic Notre Dame squad needed energy after leading Leopold by just two points at halftime Saturday afternoon in a fifth-place semifinal at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

Enter Chase Urhahn.

The junior guard sparked a 10-0 Bulldog run to start the second half that put Notre Dame on top for good.

"We came in and we were flat at the beginning and last game were flat, too," Urhahn said. "We came in the locker room and tried as hard as we could to get up and get motivated for the game.

I knew somebody had to step up, and I was just there."

Urhahn had three steals and came up with a loose ball in the opening two minutes of the third quarter.

The junior guard also netted the first seven points of the second half to start the rally.

"I've expected this since the beginning of the year -- for him to play like that," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "Finally, it took our eighth game to come out here and do that. That's nothing new. I've seen it, so when he does that he's pretty good."

The run gave No. 4 seed Notre Dame (5-3) a 40-28 lead with 6 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Notre Dame's Quinn Poythress tangles with Leopold's Zach Beel for a rebound during the first quarter of their fifth-place semifinal game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"We talked about it at halftime," Leopold coach Andy Beck said. "I pulled Cameron [Davis] aside before the half and told him they're going to make a run. A team as good as Notre Dame is and the players they have and Coach Roberts does a great job, and we talked about they're going to come out and hit you in the mouth. We can't let two or three buckets turn in to two or three more."

The eighth-seeded Wildcats (6-2) answered with a 13-5 run to make it 45-41 and a ballgame once again.

"I thought Cameron did a good job getting us settled down a little bit there," Beck said.

Davis, a senior guard, netted eight of his game-high 26 points in the third to steady the Wildcats.

"They're a good team," Roberts said. "The Davis boy is really good and really quick, so you have to give them credit."

The two teams continued to trade runs in the third.

Notre Dame responded to Leopold's run by pushing the lead 49-41 only to have the Wildcats make it a 49-47 with 1:05 remaining in the quarter.

Notre Dame's Jordan Williamson hit a 3-pointer to make it a 52-47 game going into the fourth.

The Bulldogs went on one final run in the fourth to build a comfortable lead.

Notre Dame opened the fourth period on an 8-2 run to push the lead to 60-49 with just over five minutes remaining.

Quinn Poythress was an offensive force for the Bulldogs in the final eight minutes.

The junior forward scored nine of his team-high 23 points in the fourth.

"He started moving without the ball really well," Roberts said. "Going to the high post and getting open jump shots there. He's our best player, we know that. He needs to take more shots than anybody and he makes a lot too, so I was really pleased with his game tonight."

Poythress had seven consecutive points for Notre Dame in the middle of the quarter.

"I kept looking up at the scoreboard, and I knew it was close and they were sticking with us," Poythress said. "So I knew I had to try and make some plays and try and pull away with the win."

The opening half was a track meet with neither team gaining and advantage of more than six points.

Notre Dame led 14-10 after the first quarter and went up 24-18 in the second on a Jordan Barber basket with 3:28 left, but Leopold rallied to tie it at 26-26 on a Davis dunk with just over a minute to play in the half.

The Bulldogs took a 30-26 lead on a Brendan Boswell 3-pointer but Andrew McWilliams countered with two free throws to make it a two-point game at the half.

"We knew the first half we could hang with them because your legs are going to eventually catch up with you," Beck said. "You have to make plays down the stretch. I thought we did a great job hanging in there. We gave everything we had. They got so many legs you can hang with them for awhile and then there comes a point where you can man up and stay with it or back down because you're worn out, and I thought we did a good job staying in it."

Notre Dame 14 16 22 15 -- 67

Leopold 10 18 19 13 -- 60

NOTRE DAME (67) -- Thomas Himmelberg 5, Quinn Poythress 23, Chase Urhahn 12, Jordan Williamson 6, Jordan Barber 10, Bobby Jansen 3, Brendan Boswell 3, Dean Crippen 4, Tanner Shively 1. FG 17, FT 9-18, F 17. (3-pointers: Himmelberg 1, Poythress 2, Urhahn 2, Williamson 2, Boswell 1. Fouled out: none)

LEOPOLD (60) -- Austin Bucher 11, Zach Beel 11, Carmeron Davis 26, Andrew McWilliams 4, Dillan Vandeven 4, Wesley Stoverink 2. FG 23, FT 11-16, F 15. (3-pointers: Beal. Fouled out: none)