WASHINGTON, D.C. - 17th-ranked Catholic men's basketball defeated Mary Washington on a last-second tip-in from Sean Neylon. The Cardinals open the season 1-0 for the third straight season with the victory. 

Jesse Hafmeister scored his 1,000th career point as he knocked down two free throws in the first minute of the contest to become the 47th Cardinal to surpass the 1,000-point mark. 

The Cardinals led 58-54 with 1:53 to go after Tommy Kelly converted a crucial three-point play, driving to his left and finishing through the contact. Just over a minute later, the Eagles cut the Catholic advantage back to one as Trey Pittman knocked down a three from the wing off an assist from Zack Blue. Greg Rowson drew a foul for Mary Washington with nine seconds remaining, hitting both free throws to give Mary Washington its first lead since the 3:32 mark of the first half. 

Jake Melady got a look from the corner for three with five seconds remaining, but he left it short. However, Neylon went up for the board and kissed it off the glass and in with less than a second remaining to give Catholic a 60-59 lead. Mary Washington took one final heave to try and get a shot off with less than a second on the clock, but the ball was intercepted and time expired, sending the Cardinals into celebration mode. 

Catholic hit 11 threes in the contest, shooting 44 percent from distance, including a scorching-hot 50 percent in the first half. The Cardinals trailed by as many as eight with just over nine minutes remaining in the first, but finished the half on a 16-4 run. Kelly, Jake Timby, and Dan Buckley all hit three-pointers during the run to propel Catholic into the lead. 

The Cardinals dominated the early portion of the second half, pushing their lead to 15 (51-36) with a 20-7 run. Kelly scored 10 of 12 points in a span of just over two minutes as the Cardinals built the lead with 8:08 remaining. A bucket from Enzo Sechi with 6:49 to play kept Catholic ahead by 14, but Mary Washington started a run of its own. 

A 9-0 UMW run cut the gap to five with 3:51 remaining as Erik Prosise scored off a Daniel Peterson assist. Hafemeister responded with a key bucket 17 seconds later to push the lead to 55-48. The Eagles scored the next six to get within one before Kelly's three-point play. 

The Cardinals will host Stevens on Saturday for another key non-conference matchup in the opening week of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the DuFour Center. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Hafemeister now ranks 47th on Catholic's all-time scoring list. The senior will have ample opportunity to move up the rankings as he sits just two points behind Bill Dankos ('81) for 46th and 16 behind Dan Harrington ('00) for 45th. 
• Kelly was ruthlessly efficient in the victory, scoring 22 points on seven-of-eight shooting. Kelly knocked down all five of his three-point tries in the contest. He went over 700 career points on Wednesday night in his 55th career game. 
• Buckley was the heart-and-soul of the Cardinals on Wednesday night, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. A tremendous rebounder at 6-1, all 12 of Buckley's boards came on the defensive end. Buckley knocked down four threes in the contest. 
• Despite shooting one-of-eight from the field, UMW's Greg Rowson was a perfect nine-for-nine from the free throw line, contributing 11 points and six boards. Matias Prock was the leading scorer for Mary Washington with 17 points.