WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic men's basketball improved to 2-0 on the season with a 79-74 victory over the Stevens Ducks on Saturday afternoon on Franny Murray Court.
Jesse Hafemeister scored 18 points to pace Catholic's offense while
Brian Herbert,
Tommy Kelly, and
Dan Buckley each had 13 for the Cardinals. Despite Stevens' size advantage, Catholic edged out the Ducks in paint points (42-36) and rebounds (38-32).
A tight game throughout, Catholic never led by more than six and Stevens held the largest lead of the contest with a 44-36 advantage early in the second half. The game featured just three lead changes, but thirteen ties.
The Ducks led 49-44 with 13:50 to play after a Harmehar Chhabra layup. Catholic cut the lead to two twice before tying the contest at 51 on a steal and layup from Buckley. Jack Spellman gave the edge back to Stevens with 10:30 left on the game clock, but Hafemeister scored to tie it before giving Catholic the lead, 55-53, with 9:45 to play.
Buckley drilled a three off an
Enzo Sechi feed with 8:42 left in regulation, but Spellman got to the line again to bring the Ducks within one.
CJ Ruoff and Spellman traded buckets before Hafemeister put Catholic back up three with 7:39 to go.
Chhabara knocked down two free throws with 6:38 on the clock before another Hafemeister bucket 21 seconds later put Catholic ahead 66-63. Once again, the Ducks pulled within one as Mike Goodall got to the basket after a Spellman block, but Ruoff continued to play a crucial role down the stretch, hitting a shot with 4:44 remaining to push the lead back to three.
Buckley got to the line for two to put the Cardinals ahead by five with just over four to play, but Conor Coffey trimmed the lead to two with 3:16 to play. After a steal by Herbert, Kelly drilled a crucial triple with 2:23 to play, putting Catholic ahead 73-68.
A three-point play the old-fashioned way from Ruoff gave Catholic its biggest lead of the game with two minutes to play, but Stephen Braunstein hit a big three for Stevens to make it a 76-73 game with 1:41 to play. Xander Singh got to the line to bring Stevens within two with 48 seconds left, but Kelly iced the game with two free throws with 25 seconds to play and Catholic forced a pair of missed threes at the end of the contest.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With 18 points in the win, Hafemeister moves into a tie for 44th in Catholic program history with 1,025 points, matching Shawn Kane ('99). Hafemeister was an efficient eight-for-11 from the floor, grabbing six rebounds before fouling out late in the game.
- Herbert played a major role in the victory for Catholic, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds in 32 minutes of game action. The sophomore shot five-of-eight from the field and knocked down his lone three-point attempt.
- Ruoff made a major impact off the bench, scoring nine points in 11 minutes. Ruoff hit three of his five shots and knocked down three free throws, including some key ones down the stretch. The Cardinals were plus-seven in his time on the floor.
- Catholic led for 17:56 of the contest while Stevens held the lead for 12:52. Neither team strung together a run of more than six points in the game.
- Braunstein and Spellman combined for 34 points for the Ducks. Braunstein hit three threes while Spellman had game highs with nine rebounds and seven blocks.
