NOTRE DAME, Ind. — A career effort from Eric Atkins helped the Notre Dame basketball team fend off visiting Mississippi Valley State 80-67 Saturday in its season opener.

Atkins scored 27 points as he hit all 12 of his free throw attempts and was 6-of-7 from the field. He also had six assists and four rebounds.

Scott Martin chipped in with 15 points for the Fighting Irish.

The Delta Devils (0-1) cut the lead to 50-48 with 12:33 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Falando Jones. Notre Dame went on a 7-0 run to increase its lead to nine and when Joey Brooks canned a 3-pointer with just over seven minutes left in the contest, the Fighting Irish enjoyed a 10-point advantage.

Early in the game it appeared that Notre Dame would have its way with Mississippi Valley State, starting the game with a 10-2 run.

The Delta Devils, who started the game 1-of-6 from the floor, caught fire and used an 8-0 run to take a 16-15 lead on the Irish midway through the opening half.

Notre Dame (1-0) behind the effort of Atkins was able to open up a 10-point advantage. Atkins scored 16 points in the opening 20 minutes of play as he was 4-of-4 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Amos Studivant’s layup cut the lead to 38-30 at the intermission.

Notre Dame played without leading scorer Tim Abromaitis, who must sit out the first four regular season games for violating NCAA rules.

Mississippi Valley State played the final 4:37 without coach Sean Woods, who was ejected after picking up a pair of technical fouls.

Atkins connected on all four free throws to give the Irish a 70-52 lead with 4:37 remaining in the contest.

Terrence Joyner and Kevin Burwell each had 14 points to lead the Delta Devils offensively.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 67

Amos Studivant 12, Falando Jones 13, Paul Crosby 7, Terrence Joyner 14, Kevin Burwell 14, Luka Pajkovic 0, Brent Arrington 3, Cor-J Cox 4, Blake Ralling 0. TOTALS: 28 3-8 67

NOTRE DAME 80

Jack Cooley 3, Eric Atkins 27, Scott Martin 15, Jerian Grant 11, Joey Brooks 9, Patrick Crowley 0, Alex Dragicevich 7, Pat Connaughton 2, Tom Knight 0, Mike Broghammer 6. TOTALS: 24 24-29 80

Halftime score: Notre Dame 38, Mississippi Valley State 30. 3-point baskets: Mississippi Valley State 8 (Jones, Joyner 3, Burwell 2, Arrington, Crosby), Notre Dame 8 (Atkins 3, Martin 2, Brooks, Grant 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Mississippi Valley State 23, Notre Dame 12. Technical fouls: Mississippi Valley State 2 (team). Records: Mississippi Valley State 0-1, Notre Dame 1-0

Bethel College

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Bethel College improved to 5-1 on the year with a 72-50 victory over winless Clarke College Saturday afternoon.

Bethel outscored Clarke 39-22 in the second half to turn a 33-28 halftime lead into a comfortable victory.

Katy Stuppy of Dowagiac had nine points and Niles’ Baysia Cox added six points to help the Pilots to the victory. Sarah Clark also had nine points for Bethel.

Brittany Collier and Cassie Carlson each had nine points for Clark.

BETHEL 72

Chrissy Hooks 1 1-2 4; Katy Stuppy 2 3-4 9; Ashley Lutz 1 0-0 3; Georgia Boisse 1 0-0 2; Sarah Clark 4 1-1 9; Chrlsea Ward 4 1-2 9; Alyshia Harvey 3 0-0 8; Ashlee Ort 2 0-2 4; Alyssa Toupin 1 0-0 2; Laura Johnson 4 0-0 11; Kristen Hicks 2 0-0 5; Baysia Cox 2 2-4 6. TOTALS: 27 8-15 72

CLARKE 50

Brittany Collier 4 0-1 9; Stephanie Aasen 4 0-1 10; Bailey Holvorsen 1 1-4 4; Brittany Horst 2 0-0 5; Brianna Boals 0 0-1 0; Cassie Carlson 2 4-4 9; Kelsey Dircks 1 0-0 3; Katie Scarlett 1 0-0 2; Candis Kerston 2 0-3 4; Michelle Jamison 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 19 5-14 50

Halftime score: Bethel 33, Clarke 28. 3-point goals: Bethel 10 (Hooks, Stuppy 2, Lutz, Harvey 2, Johnson 3, Hicks), Clarke 7 (Collier, Aasen 2, Halvorsen, Horst, Carlson, Dircks). Total fouls (fouled out): Clarke 11, Bethel 15. Records: Bethel 5-1; Clarke 0-5