Notre Dame Basketball Closes Strong, Beats Stanford

Notre Dame basketball has mostly had a season to forget but finally was able to close the deal against a formidable opponent on its home floor Wednesday night. The Fighting Irish, doing what it has failed to do most the season by rallying late, beat Stanford 56-54 at Purcell Pavilion.

Trailing 46-37 with roughly eight minutes to play, Notre Dame's defense locked down the Cardinal and allowed its offense to close the gap. A 15-0 Fighting Irish run, headed by seven Markus Burton points, put Notre Dame ahead 52-46 with 3:28 to play.

Of course, it wasn't easy from there as Stanford went on an 8-0 run itself to retake the lead with 1:18 to play. Notre Dame's defense locked things down from there though, not allowing another point and setting up what became a game-winning three pointer from Cole Certa with just 18 seconds left.

Certa's three-pointer made him just the second player on Notre Dame's roster (Burton) to make multiple field goal attempts all game.