HOBOKEN, N.J. - Despite trailing by as many as 14, Catholic (1-0) rallied back to defeat Stevens (0-1) to open the 2024 men's basketball season on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Dan Buckley hit a fading mid-range jumper with 4.4 seconds left on the clock before Sean Neylon blocked the Ducks' game-winning shot attempt to secure the victory. 

Trailing 41-28 after the opening 20 minutes, Catholic kicked things into high gear in the second half, outscoring Stevens 50-35 over the final 20 minutes. Stevens still led by 10 with 7:31 to play, but the Cardinals finished the game on a 21-9 run, beginning with a bucket from Jamie Ntiamoah with 6:34 to play. 

Ntiamoah came up with a steal 27 seconds later and scored in transition to trim the margin to six points with just over six minutes to play. A Jack Spellman bucket extended Stevens' lead back to eight points with 4:07 to play, but CJ Ruoff knocked down a triple with 3:42 left to bring Catholic back within five. The lead dissipated over the next 1:34 as Buckley hit a jumper to pull the Cardinals within three before Ruoff dribbled into a three-pointer to tie the game at 71. 

After a timeout, Stevens answered back as Mike Goodall got to the block, came to a stop, and shot it over Ruoff to give the Ducks a 73-71 advantage. 14 seconds later Buckley found Neylon who drained a three from the wing opposite the benches to give Catholic its first lead since 11-8. 

With 1:13 on the clock, Tommy Scholl found Harmehar Chhabra who drilled a three to put the Ducks back ahead, 76-74. The teams continued to trade haymakers as a beautiful possession by the Cardinals led to a game-tying layup for Ntiamoah. Buckley swung the ball to Neylon in the near corner, Neylon hit a bounce pass to Brian Herbert who dumped the extra pass into Ntiamoah to tie the game. 

With 26 seconds left Chhabra couldn't get a shot to fall over tough defense from Herbert. After setting up the offense, Buckley got the ball in the near corner, dribbled, and rose up from the foul-line extended to knock down what would be the game-winner with less than five seconds left. Stevens brought it the length of the floor and Scholl created a bit of space to get a shot off, but Neylon blocked it with his off hand to preserve the victory. 

For Catholic, four of the five starters scored in double figures led by 17 each from Neylon and Herbert. Ntiamoah recorded his first career double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and five steals while Ruoff added 11 points, four assists, and three steals. Buckley dished out seven assists to go with seven points and the game-winning shot. The Cardinals shot 50 percent from the field, 45 percent from three, and 82 percent from the charity stripe. 

Goodall and Maddison each had 20 for Stevens, but the Cardinals kept preseason All-American Jack Spellman in relative check with 11 points and seven boards. The Ducks hit 56 percent of their shots and 50 percent of their threes, but only converted on 53.3 percent of their free throws. 

QUICK HITTERS

• Catholic opens the season 1-0 for the fourth straight season. This is the second consecutive season in which the Cardinals have opened the campaign with a victory thanks to a shot in the last five seconds. The Cardinals defeated Mary Washington 60-59 in last season's opener with Neylon hitting the shot at the buzzer. 
• 17 points is a new career-high for Herbert who previously had two games with 16 career points. 
• With three threes made, Neylon is now one triple shy of 100 makes from beyond the arc as a Cardinal. 
• Catholic improves to 6-3 over the last two seasons in games decided by five points or less. 

The Cardinals will return to action in the Widener Tip-Off for Autism Awareness on November 15 and 16. Catholic will take on Stockton at 6 p.m. on Friday.