Presbyterian Blue Hose vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Match Player Stats On Nov 18, 2019

Rex Pflueger scored a team-high 13 points, Juwan Durham notched a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds, and Notre Dame held on for a 63-53 win over Presbyterian on Monday night at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.

Nate Laszewski added 11 points for Notre Dame (4-1), which won its fourth game in a row after losing its season opener against North Carolina. Each of the Fighting Irish's victories have come by double digits.

Cory Hightower scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Presbyterian (1-3). Ben Drake finished with 11 points for the Blue Hose, which played Notre Dame for the first time in school history.

Notre Dame shot 41.2 percent (21 of 51) from the field and 38.5 percent (10 of 26) from 3-point range.

Presbyterian shot 41.8 percent (23 of 55) overall and just 23.8 percent (5 of 21) from beyond the arc.

After a competitive start, the Fighting Irish appeared poised to finally pull away when a 3-pointer by Pflueger increased their lead to double digits, 48-37, with 13:41 remaining in the second half. Yet Presbyterian trimmed the deficit to 51-49 on the strength of a 12-3 run that Michael Isler punctuated with a slam dunk with 8:56 to play.

From there, the Fighting Irish closed the game on a 12-4 run to secure a victory on their home court.

Notre Dame led 39-31 at halftime.

The Fighting Irish jumped to a 7-0 lead to start the game, but Presbyterian responded with an 11-4 run to even the score at 11-11 with 13:55 to go in the first half. Hightower drained a 3-pointer on an assist from Isler to cap the run for the Blue Hose.

Notre Dame pulled ahead once again with an 8-2 run that made it 19-13. Nikola Djogo and Pflueger hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Fighting Irish during the run, and Prentiss Hubb added a layup.

Presbyterian refused to go away, relying on a 13-6 run to go ahead 26-25 with 7:04 remaining in the half. But the Fighting Irish regained a comfortable lead by scoring the final seven points before the break, including 3-pointers from Pflueger and T.J. Gibbs.

--Field Level Media