Box Score GRANTHAM, Pa. - Dan Buckley scored 14 points and Jesse Hafemeister recorded his second consecutive double-double as Catholic defeated Messiah 60-42 to win the Messiah Tip-Off on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals held Messiah to just 42 points on 29.3 percent shooting in the contest with the Falcons scoring 22 points or less in both halves of basketball on Saturday.
Buckley hit two threes in the first four minutes as Catholic jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The scoring slowed down as Catholic led it 12-10 before a quick four-point burst on buckets from Hafemeister and Colby Martins gave Catholic a 16-10 lead with 7:19 left in the first half.
Messiah took the lead for the first time with 5:43 left in the first half, but Hafemeister put Catholic back on top after a steal and a layup at the 5:05 mark. Messiah snuck back out ahead, but Sean Neylon hit a triple at the 2:01 mark to push the Cardinals back ahead 21-19. Neylon hit his second triple of the half with 36 ticks on the clock and the Cards took a 24-20 lead into the break.
Catholic used a 7-0 run early in the second half to push the lead to 31-23 after a Martins layup. Messiah was within four with 10:29 left to play, but Jake Melady answered with a three for Catholic to make it 40-33 with 9:03 left.
The Cardinal lead grew to 12 after Cephas Wilson-Bahun's first triple of the contest with 5:55 left to play. The teams traded buckets before Wilson-Bahun hit another three to make it 52-37 Cardinals with 3:11 remaining.
Eight different Cardinals scored on Saturday with all five starters scoring at least eight points. Hafemeister had 12 and 10 for the Cardinals, recording a double-double in both Messiah Tip-Off games. Brian Herbert had four points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
Dylan Cuperus and Bryce Coletti score 21 of the Falcons' 42 points.
Hafemeister earned MVP honors for the tournament while Martins was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Catholic improves to 3-0 to open the season. The Cardinals will travel to Shenandoah on Tuesday night.
