SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Catholic outscored Susquehanna 39-32 over the final 20 minutes of Wednesday night's contest, but the River Hawks held on for a 60-58 win to drop Catholic to 6-2 on the season. Jesse Hafemeister scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, but his jumper to tie the contest at the buzzer and force overtime wouldn't fall. 

Susquehanna finished the first half on a 10-4 run over the final 6:46, building a nine-point advantage after a Tommy Kelly three-pointer pulled Catholic within three points. Marcus Mitchell's three with six seconds remaining gave the River Hawks a 28-19 lead after 20 minutes of action. 

The River Hawks led for nearly 16 minutes in the first half of Wednesday night's contest, holding the Catholic offense to just 30 percent shooting. Susquehanna turned it over just twice to Catholic's eight in the first-half, making up the halftime difference in points off turnovers (10-1).

Catholic trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, falling behind 37-24 after an AJ Lomax three with 15:46 to play. Hafemeister sparked a 9-0 run, bringing the Cardinals right back into it at 37-33, scoring six of the nine points with a Brian Herbert triple mixed in. After a Steven Ressler bucket, Enzo Sechi scored off a Hafemeister assist followed by another Hafemeister bucket to make it a two-point game with 11:32 still to play. 

Just under a minute later, Jake Timby hit his lone shot of the game, a three-pointer assisted by Sean Neylon to bring the Cardinals within a point. The see-saw battle continued with Susquehanna extending the lead back to six before a Hafemeister three-pointer at the 6:59 mark. Sechi scored the next time down and once more Catholic trailed by just one point. 

The Cardinals took their first lead of the game as Sechi drew an Audric Washington foul and knocked down the pair to make it a 47-46 game with 5:49 left. Both teams traded free throws and buckets, leaving the contest tied at 52 before Dan Buckley rose up and knocked down a triple with 3:38 left on the clock. 

Back-to-back Susquehanna buckets put the River Hawks back in the lead before Hafemeister split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 56 with 2:11 remaining. The River Hawks built a four-point advantage before Kelly got to the bucket to bring Catholic back within two with 58 seconds remaining. Catholic got a pair of stops and a final look, but Hafemeister's jumper didn't fall and the River Hawks held on for a two-point victory, giving head coach Frank Marcinek his 500th career win. 

With 19 points in the contest, Hafemeister moved up to 33rd all-time on Catholic's scoring list, passing Steve Limberiou as he sits with 1,109 points. Kelly was the only other Cardinal in double figures with 13 points. Sechi added nine points and eight boards for Catholic. 

Catholic will return to action on Saturday afternoon at Moravian for a Landmark Conference doubleheader with the Greyhounds.