ND RALLIES LATE TO BEAT BLACKCATS

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- Facing an uphill battle all evening, the Notre Dame Bulldogs finally caught and passed Fredericktown in the closing moments, beating the Black Cats 70-68 Friday night.

Scott Wittenborn scored nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, while Mark Rubel scored eight of his 10 in the final eight minutes.

Notre Dame trailed by 12 points in the fourth quarter, but outscored Fredericktown 26-16 in the fourth.

With less than one minute left, Wittenborn tied the game for the first time since the first quarter when he converted a three-point play. With 17 seconds left and trailing by one, Rubel hit a 15-footer to put Notre Dame up by one. Cory Beussink hit a late free throw to account for the final margin.

Cory Beussink scored 13 points as did Doug Schaefer, while Jonathan Ressel scored 11.

First-year Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott found the victory bittersweet.

"We came out flat and not ready to play," he said. "But we showed a lot of heart and character. The team just wasn't in much of a rhythm all night. We couldn't stop them from scoring."

Justin Hall paced Fredericktown with 17 points, while Dusty Merrill had 16.

Notre Dame's junior varsity team got 14 points from David Unterreiner and 12 from Wayne Essner in its 60-55 victory.