BUCKHANNON — It was perhaps the biggest heart breaker of the season as West Virginia Wesleyan College tried to pick up its first home court victory of the season but dropped the decision to Notre Dame College (OH) in overtime 84-83, Wednesday.

In an incredibly even-matched game, it came down to who would have the momentum last. Wesleyan was up by as many as nine points in the first half but Notre Dame fought back to go up by as many as 11 points before settling with a 42-35 at the break.

The Bobcats struggled for the first six minutes of the second half and were down by 12 when the momentum began to shift. A stolen ball by Anthony Craven Jr. at 13:17 led to a tree-pointer by Deiker Padrino, one of his 6-of-8 scores from beyond the arc. Wesleyan scored on four of its next five possessions: a jumper by Jalen Canada, a tree-pointer by Alex Mirhosseini, a layup by Canada and a layup by Maxwell Harris, and Wesleyan was suddenly down by one, 62-61, with 8:44 on the clock.

Momentum shifted back to the Falcons and the lead was maintained by no more than three points until Mirhosseini tied it, 72-72, with 2:10 remaining. The Falcons’ Andre Harris (15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) made the go-ahead layup with 43 seconds remaining but the Bobcats’ Joshua Johnson (6 points, 4 rebounds) tied it on a layup in the paint with 27 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

The extra five-minute period had the Rockefeller Center faithful loud and fully engaged and a close back-and-forth came down to a pair of free throws to tie the game by Mirhosseini with three-tenths of a second remaining. Mirhosseini hit the first shot but the second bounced off the back of the rim and the clock expired.

Padrino posted his best performance since the season-opener that earned him the MEC’s Player of the Week in the first week of play. His 35 points was a personal best as he posted 9-of-12 from the field and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.