WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic men's basketball dropped its first contest of the season on Friday evening, falling 64-51 to defending Landmark Conference champions Susquehanna. The 22nd-ranked Cardinals sit at 13-1 and 2-1 in the conference ahead of Sunday's trip to the Palestra. 

Freshman Brian Herbert was a standout in Friday's contest, scoring 16 points and pulling in a career-high nine rebounds, but the River Hawks outscored Catholic 45-29 in the second half to come away victorious. 

Catholic got off to a red-hot start, opening the game on an 11-0 run that spanned more than five minutes. All five starters scored a bucket during the run with Herbert's first back pushing the Cardinals ahead by 11 at the 15:57 mark. 

Susquehanna cut it to 13-8 before Herbert scored five straight and Tommy Kelly added a bucket to put the Cardinals ahead by a score of 20-8 with 10:28 to play in the first half. 

The River Hawks outscored the Cardinals 11-2 over the final 10:28 of a low-scoring half as Catholic entered the locker room with a 22-19 lead. 

Both teams traded buckets early in the second half with the River Hawks pulling ahead by four with 12:33 left. After adding one more on a free throw, Jake Timby hit threes from identical spots on back-to-back possessions, and just like that, the Cardinals led it by one with 11:54 to go. 

Dan Buckley found Declan O'Sullivan for a layup with 10:53 to go, making it 40-37 in favor of Catholic. Susquehanna pulled back ahead after a 5-0 run, but Jake Melady's lone three of the night put the Cardinals back in the lead with 7:20 remaining. 

The River Hawks used a 15-0 run to pull away and earn the road victory. 

Timby joined Herbert in double figures with 11 points and added three assists. 

Catholic takes on Goucher on Sunday evening in Philadelphia, Pa. as the final game of the Landmark Conference quadruple-header at the Palestra.