Dalli's Career Day Lifts Gophers to Second Straight Win

TOWSON, Md. - Goucher College men's basketball junior guard Can Dalli made five three-pointers and finished with a career-best 24 points as the Gophers' posted their second straght win, dowing Notre Dame of Maryland University 66-55 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on Saturday afternoon at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center.

• Goucher (3-5) held Notre Dame (1-8) scoreless for over six minutes to start the game and opened up an 11-0 lead following a basket by Liech Kong.
• Onterio Miller had Goucher's first nine points as he knocked down three three-pointers.
• The Gators whittled the lead down to seven three times before an 8-0 Gopher spurt capped by a Dalli steal and basket with 6:50 left in the opening half made it 26-11.
• Goucher led 31-18 with 1:46 left before intermission of Miller's fourth triple of the first half, but NDMU closed with six straight points to cut the lead to seven, 31-24, at the break.

• A basket by Notre Dame just under two minutes in cut the Goucher lead to five, 31-26.
• Six straight points by the hosts made it 37-26 with 16:03 left on a Dalli layup.
• Leading 40-31, Goucher embarked on a 10-0 run capped by a Jaden Workman three and a layup by Darnell Morris Jr. that made it 50-31 with 10:19 on the clock.
• The Gophers took their largest lead, 54-34, on a dunk by Alex Miller with 8:44 remaining.
• The Gators outscored Goucher 15-4 over the next five-plus minutes and a basket with 3:21 left pulled Notre Dame within nine, 58-49.
• A pullup basket by Jacob Morgan and a Dalli layup with 2:34 left put the lead back to 13.
• The Gators cut the lead to nine two more times but could not get any closer.

• Dalli, who reached double figures for the second straight game and fourth time this season, finished 9-13 and 5-9 behind the arc off the bench. He also recorded four steals.
• Onterio Miller scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half and finished 4-8 behind the arc.  He narrowly missed a double-double, hauling in nine rebounds.
• Workman finished with eight points and four assists, while Alex Miller added six points and five rebounds.
• Goucher, which held a 40-36 lead in rebounds, shot 45.3% overall, finished 11-25 (44%) from three and was 7-13 at the free throw line.
• The Gators, in their first season after NDMU admitted males into its undergraduate programs for the first time in 2023-24, shot 34.9% overall, 3-8 from three and 8-13 at the stripe.
• Goucher's back-to-back wins are its first since 2019-20, when it defeated Cairn 96-90 on December 30 and Gallaudet 79-73 on January 8.
• Six of Notre Dame's eight losses have come by 11 or fewer points.

• Goucher returns to action Tuesday afternoon, traveling to Delaware Valley for a 3 pm non-conference matinee.
• The next Gopher home game is Saturday, December 30 when Goucher entertains Ursinus in a 3 pm game at the Decker SRC.