Jan. 5, 2005

Notre Dame at Seton Hall Box Score

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Colin Falls nailed a 22-foot 3-point jumper from the left corner with 3.8 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame a 66-65 victory over Seton Hall Wednesday night in the Big East Conference opener for both schools.

After Kelly Whitney made two free throws to give Seton Hall a 65-63 lead with 20.2 seconds left, Falls, who had a team-high 19 points, took a pass from Chris Thomas off a scramble, setting up the winning shot.

Whitney had a chance to win the game for the Pirates (8-4, 0-1), but his shot from the top of the key bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Torin Francis and Chris Thomas added 15 points each for Notre Dame (9-2, 1-0). Francis also had 10 rebounds.

John Allen scored 19 points to lead Seton Hall, and Justin Cerasoli added 16 in his first start for the Pirates. Whitney had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The closely contested game featured six lead changes and five ties in the second half alone.

Seton Hall jumped out to a 13-5 lead as Cerasoli hit two long 3-pointers. But Notre Dame crept back into the game as Francis dominated the action down low. His 13 first-half points included a monstrous dunk that gave the Fighting Irish their first lead of the game at 25-24.