Dec. 30, 2005

Notre Dame Wofford Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Torin Francis hit two free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining as Notre Dame avoided a near upset to win 74-71 over Wofford Friday night.

Wofford trailed by only one point, 72-71, with 47 seconds to play when Notre Dame decided to drain the clock. Chris Quinn’s layup did not fall but Francis grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled.

Howard Wilkerson’s 3-point attempt for Wofford (4-8) at the buzzer bounced off the rim to give Notre Dame the victory.

Wilkerson led all scorers with 27 points, while Shane Nichols added 19 and Tyler Berg 10 for Wofford. Notre Dame (9-2) was led by Russell Carter’s career-high 16 points. Francis and Kyle McAlarney scored 12 each and Quinn had 10.

The victory was the seventh straight for the Irish as they completed their non-conference schedule. The Irish open Big East play Wednesday at Pittsburgh.

After a slow start, the Irish hit five straight 3-pointers while Wofford countered with inside layups. Notre Dame later used a 10-3 run to gain a 42-32 half time lead.

Wofford tightened the game up in the second half as Wilkerson layup with 11:32 remaining tied the score at 52. A 3-pointer by Quinn began an 8-2 run for Notre Dame but Wofford again came back and Wilkerson converted a 3-point play with 7:20 to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 65-63.