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NOTRE DAME, Ind.--  A second-half dryspell allowed host Notre Dame to slip past Detroit, 59-53 at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in the Regional Round of the Progressive CBE Classic Monday night.  The Titans, who led for most of the first half and the opening minutes of the second stanza, did not score for over seven minutes to let the home team sneak out the victory.

Leading 41-33 after a Ray McCallum layup at the 14:04 mark, the Titans were held without a field goal make until a Nick Minnerath jumper with 6:23 to play.  In that time, Notre Dame (2-0) scored 14 straight points to erase the Titan lead and claim a six-point lead of its own.

"That's something that happened to us last year," Head Coach Ray McCallum said of the stretch.  "We had droughts where we had control of games, not that we had control (of this game) but were in good position. It was a combination of Notre Dame's defense and our inability to get the shots that we wanted. When you take quick, bad shots, and have a stretch there where we had no break from the three, your opponent will eventually capitalize, and that happened to be extended out. It was game (that was) won (by Notre Dame, not given away by us); their bench was better than ours. Their bench came in and really contributed to close out the game." 

Detroit (1-1) could draw no closer than a four-point cushion and faced foul trouble in the frontcourt throughout the night.

McCallum was the catalyst for a solid Detroit first half.  After ND hit on its first three shots to jump out to a 6-0 advantage, McCallum drilled three straight triples and Detroit gained its first lead at 9-8 before the first media timeout.

The Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year-- with four triples of his own-- helped Detroit hit six first-half treys and sparked a 14-2 run that saw the Titans grab a six-point lead.   

The teams traded points throughout the first half and Detroit held a slim 21-19 lead with just over eight minutes to go.  Minnerath picked-up his third personal foul at that point, relinquishing the starting forward to the bench for the remainder of the half.  Minnerath played just four minutes in the opening frame and McCallum, Doug Anderson and Evan Bruinsma all had two personals before the break.

The other starting frontcourt member, LaMarcus Lowe, fell awkwardly on the floor scrambling for a rebound later in the half and Detroit was forced to play with a small lineup and a shortened bench due to foul trouble.  With Lowe briefly on the bench, Anderson served up a highlight-reel two-handed dunk from a McCallum oop that quieted the home-cheering crowd.  Detroit would take a 31-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.  

The Irish would take advantage of Titan shots not falling, eventually knotting the score at 41-apiece and would regain the lead for the first time since the opening minutes at the 10:36 mark.  ND would not look back from that point, grabbing the six-point win.

Although it wasn't his night shooting the basketball, Chase Simon helped a foul-plagued frontcourt with a game-high 11 rebounds on the night to go with his 13-point effort.  

McCallum finished as the game's leading scorer (20), adding seven rebounds and four assists to his stat line.  Lowe had eight points, 10 rebounds and five blocks before fouling out.

Notre Dame had a balanced attack with four players in double figures paced by 13 from Eric Atkins and Joey Brooks.

Detroit returns home Friday for a game against Concordia (Mich.) University. Tip is slated for 7:00 p.m. from Calihan Hall.

Notes: Notre Dame was without the services of star senior Tim Abromaitis, who is serving a four-game suspension from the NCAA regarding an eligibility issue with exhibition games in his sophomore season ... Two buses full of fans made the trek from Detroit to cheer on the Titans ... Detroit had won each of the last two meetings, including a win in South Bend during LaPhonso Ellis' senior season ... Ellis served as the color analyst for Monday's game on ESPNU.