WASHINGTON — The Catholic University of America men's basketball team got its second-straight win on Sunday afternoon at Gettysburg, 72-71. Senior Jay Howard led all players with 26 points and scored the go-ahead layup with just 22 seconds left.

In a wild game that featured 17 lead changes, the final 23 second defined the game with Howard finishing the feed from junior Andre Mitchell. Catholic was then forced to defend for the final 22 seconds to close out the win.

With just eight seconds left, Gettysburg called timeout to set up a final shot. The Bullets missed their attempt with two ticks left but pulled down the offensive board and were fouled with a single second remaining.

Gettysburg was unable to connect on either attempt and Mitchell pulled down the final rebound to end the game.

Howard played all 40 minutes and went 11-of-19 from the field and was joined by junior Jimmy Golaszewski (13 points) and sophomore Brandon Easton (11) as double-figure scorers.

Catholic held a 38-35 halftime lead but trailed 71-65 with just 90 seconds left.

Easton near single-handedly got the Cards back into it however. A 3-pointer by the sophomore with 1:14 to play got the Cardinals back into it and he followed it up with a steal and a layup on the next possession to make it a one-point game and set up Howard's game-winning score.

Gettysburg Nick Antolini led the Bullets with 24 points.

The Bullets earned the rebounding advantage, 32-25, but lost the turnover battle, 19-11. 

The Cardinals now get a Christmas-time break before hosting the annual Catholic-Holiday Inn College Park Classic on December 29th and 30th.

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