Streaking Bulldogs avenge loss to Central

Notre Dame forward Dylan Essner's eyes lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning.

The senior took a sharp, one-handed pass from outside the 3-point arc from Ke-Ke Kellum and laid it up for a bucket. Essner ran down the floor with a massive grin after converting the shot.

Essner provided 12 points off the bench as the streaking Bulldogs knocked off Central 70-55 in front of energetic student sections at the Show Me Center on Monday for their ninth consecutive victory.

"Dylan works his butt off every day in practice," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "For him to come in, it's so good to see because he's a good kid and he can play. It's just so big for us to add another guy who can do something."

Essner scored eight points, including the basket from Kellum, during the decisive second quarter as the Bulldogs turned a two-point deficit into a nine-point lead at halftime.

"You get pumped up in the game and shots started to fall," Essner said.

The Tigers double-teamed Notre Dame's Jacob Tolbert every time he touched the ball near the basket. Essner was the one who benefited from Central's defensive strategy.

"They just wanted to get the ball out of his hands," Roberts said of Tolbert. "So we tried to get the ball to the high post and that's where Dylan hit two jumpers."

But Essner said he won't be going to Roberts to ask for more playing time after going 5 of 6 from the field.

"I just do what I'm told to do," Essner said.

The Bulldogs ratcheted up their defensive intensity in the second quarter, which led to 10 Central turnovers.

"The big thing is we went about a two-minute stretch in the second quarter where we had some turnovers and they were able to score off those," Central coach Drew Church said. "That was huge for us. We talked about putting a full game together. If we delete that, we're right there."

Central led by as many as six points in the first quarter after shooting 60 percent (6 of 10) from the field in the opening eight minutes. But the Tigers cooled off in the second quarter as they were limited to five points on 2 of 7 shooting (29 percent).

"They just came with the pressure," Central junior Andrew Williams said. "They just have so many quick guards. They come off the bench and come at you the whole time. It's tiring. Then you get sloppy and turn the ball over."

But the Tigers refused to wilt. Notre Dame built a 16-point lead in the third quarter, but Central answered with an 8-0 run to end the quarter and close within eight at 48-40. The Tigers shrunk the deficit to four points midway through the fourth when James Lane hit a bucket to make it 53-49.

That's when Liam Maher took over for the Bulldogs (16-4). He responded to Lane's basket with a 3-pointer then later made a steal and raced toward the basket, where he got knocked down as he floated up a layup.

"I had no idea it went in and then Ke-Ke told me," said Maher, who tumbled into the basket stanchion after drawing contact. "I was pretty excited because I don't really make left-handed layups."

Maher, who flashed a huge smile as he got up, knocked down the free throw to restore Notre Dame's lead to a comfortable 10 points. He finished with 14 points.

"They're a scrappy team and they handle the ball well," Roberts said of Central. "Our goal was to get them out of what they want to run. They did a good job, especially early on. But over time, our pressure is going to wear people down. That's what we want to do -- continually guard. Over four quarters, things are going to go our way."

The Tigers (11-6) did a nice job of limiting Tolbert's effectiveness near the basket, something Central focused on in practice.

"We tried to front him with one guy and then if he happened to catch, we tried to get two guys on him," Church said. "He's a heck of a player. When he catches down there, he's hard to stop. He's either going to score or get fouled."

Tolbert scored a game-high 24 points, but they didn't come easy. He was held without a dunk and went 8 of 18 (44 percent) from the field.

"I just tried to be a little more aggressive, just try to want the ball more inside," he said. "As coach said, I was kind of hiding from the ball there for a little while. I had to come out and just try to get it."

Tolbert did have an off night from the free-throw line, where he went 7 of 13.

"It was the worst free throws I've ever shot in my life," he said. "I don't know. I wasn't following through. I definitely have to work on it now."

The Bulldogs admitted they played with a little extra motivation Monday after they lost to the Tigers in the semifinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament. It was the last loss incurred by Notre Dame.

"It's always good to beat Central, especially at the Show Me Center," Maher said. "We just wanted to prove that the last game we didn't play our best. When we did play our best, we could beat them."

Notre Dame 16 16 16 22 -- 70

Central 18 5 17 15 -- 55

NOTRE DAME (70) -- Matt Helle 2, Jacob Tolbert 24, Liam Maher 14, Nick Koeppel 4, Alex Carroll 6, Ke-Ke Kellum 4, Dylan Essner 12, Luciano Starling 4. FG 24, FT 16-27, F 18. (3-pointers: Maher 3, Tolbert 1, Carroll 2. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (55) -- James Lane 18, Kevin Casasola 7, Terrance Howard 3, Andrew Williams 19, Zach Boerboom 2, Blake Ozbun 6. FG 18, FT 14-20, F 19. (3-pointers: Williams 5. Fouled out: Boerboom)