MADISON, N.J. - Catholic outscored Drew 52-27 in the second half of Saturday afternoon's contest, ending the Rangers 11-game winning streak with an 88-59 victory. Jesse Hafemeister returned from a one-game absence with 25 points and nine rebounds while the Catholic defense held one of the top scoring offenses in Division III to just 34.5 percent shooting and 18 points below their previous season-low of 77 points. 

10 different players scored for Aaron Kelly's squad with Enzo Sechi (14) and Tommy Kelly (11) joining Hafemeister in double figures. Sechi pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. The graduate has scored at least 10 points in five straight games, pushing his season mark to 10.1 points per game. 

The Rangers led the contest 9-7 with 13:18 remaining in the first half before Catholic used a 6-0 run to take a 13-9 lead on a layup from Kelly. Drew never held the lead again, but kept it tight for the remainder of the opening 20 minutes. Dan Buckley put the Cardinals ahead by eight points with a layup on the break with 7:04 to play in the first, but a quick 7-0 run from the Rangers brought them back within one. CJ Ruoff knocked in a pair of free throws at the 4:33 mark of the first half to push Catholic's lead back to eight at 31-23. The lead fluctuated between four and eight over the final stretch of the first and the Cardinals took a 36-32 lead into the break. 

A 7-0 run in the first 1:20 of the second half pushed Catholic's lead to 11 as Jake Timby drained a triple to make it 43-32. Papie Roberts answered with a three for Drew, but a third-chance bucket from Sean Neylon on the next possession pushed the lead back to 10 and it would never shrink to single digits again. 

Brian Herbert pushed the lead up to 15 for the first time with 8:50 to play as Catholic led it 63-48. Three straight points from Kelly capped a 10-0 run that pushed the lead to 20 after a free throw with 7:38 to go in the contest. Hafemeister extended the lead to 25 points with 4:34 left as he scored his 25th and final point of the day. Jamie Ntiamoah scored off a Jake Melady assist with 95 seconds remaining to hand the Cardinals their largest lead of the day at 86-56. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Drew had scored less than 80 points in a game just twice in their first 11 contests (all wins) before being held to 59 in a losing effort this afternoon. 
• After dominating its past two games from behind the three-point line, Catholic shifted gears, scoring 52 points in the paint while shooting 52.1 percent from the floor today. The Cardinals shot an astounding 65.7 percent from the floor in the second half of today's win. 
• Hafemeister's 25 points inch him ever closer to becoming a top-25 scorer in Catholic men's basketball history. Hafemeister moves into 27th place with 1,169 points, edging past Chris Kearney ('13). Hafemeister needs just seven points to pass Andre Mitchell ('19) and R.J. Dixon ('11) and move into the top 25. 
• During its current five-game winning streak, Catholic has outscored its opponents by 116 points (23.2 points per contest). Catholic has won each of its past five games by nine or more points and each of its last three games by at least 27.
• Now 5-1 this season, Catholic has won 16 of its last 20 Landmark Conference contests dating back to the start of the 2022-23 season. 

Catholic will host Juniata on Wednesday night in D.C. in a Landmark Conference contest set for a 7 p.m. tip.