WASHINGTON, D.C. - After a thrilling overtime victory over Wilkes on Thursday in the Landmark Conference Semifinals, Catholic will host third-seeded Susquehanna as they play for a Landmark Conference title. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside the DuFour Center.

WHO: #1 Catholic vs. #3 Susquehanna | Live Stats | Video | Tickets
WHAT: Landmark Conference Championship
WHERE: Franny Murray Court | Washington, D.C. 
WHEN: Saturday, February 24th at 2:00 p.m.
PROMO: Concessions will available. All students are eligible for a raffle. The winner(s) will be announced at halftime and will walk away with a $50 Walter's gift card. 
 

THE SKINNY

• Top-seeded Catholic men's basketball advanced to its first Landmark Conference Championship game since 2016 with a 93-88 overtime victory over Wilkes in front of a packed DuFour Center crowd on Thursday night. Enzo Sechi led the Catholic scoring effort with 21 points, adding five rebounds as well. Three others scored at least 16 points with Jesse Hafemeister adding 19, Tommy Kelly totaling 18, and Jake Timby scoring 16. Timby put forth a massive effort off the bench, shooting a perfect five-for-five from the field and knocking down all four of his three-point attempts. Kelly dished out six assists for the Cardinals. Brian Herbert added nine points and six boards in 40 crucial minutes for Catholic. 
• Marcus Mitchell's drive to the basket in the closing seconds of a 66-66 contest led to the ball bouncing towards the baseline and into the hands of Brandon Lavitt, whose made layup with 1.4 seconds left sent as the Susquehanna men's basketball team into a panic as they defeated Drew in the Landmark Semifinals, 68-66, Thursday night. The River Hawks head to Catholic this Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup in hopes of clinching their third Landmark championship since 2020. They have appeared in three of the last four championship games.
• With Thursday's victory, Catholic matches the 2014-15 team for the most wins (23) in the last decade of Catholic men's basketball. A win on Saturday would give Catholic its third Landmark Conference title and most wins since going 25-4 in 2012-13. 
• The Cardinals are led by a veteran group that includes two of the program's 48 all-time 1,000-point scorers. Hafemeister is currently 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,441 points while Kelly is 46th with 1,024 career points. 
• Led by junior point guard Dan Buckley and graduate post Sechi, Catholic ranks eighth in the country in defensive rebounding. The Cardinals pull in 31.35 rebounds per game and out-rebound their foes by 8.5 boards per contest, ranking 12th in Division III. Sechi leads the team, pulling in 6.8 boards per contest while Buckley grabs 5.8 rebounds per game. Brian Herbert (5.6) and Hafemeister (5.3) also add strong rebounding chops for Catholic. 
• Already with strong numbers to boot, Hafemeister and Sechi have posted outstanding statistical campaigns in Landmark Conference play. Hafemeister is averaging 20 points and 5.2 rebounds in 17 conference games while adding 27 assists and 24 steals. The senior is shooting 53/39/84 in those games. Sechi's numbers have also taken a jump across the board as the graduate averages 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in Landmark play. Sechi's shooting splits are 47/36/81 in 17 games.  
• Aaron Kelly's team has proven to be extremely careful with the basketball in 2023-24. The Cardinals rank seventh in the country in turnovers per game, giving it away just 9.7 times per contest. 
• The Cardinals also rank in the top 10 in the country in scoring margin, defeating teams by an average of 15.8 points per contest. Catholic has 12 wins by a double digit margin this season and is beating teams by 19.6 points per contest in Landmark Conference play. 
• Catholic's statistical profile is a strong one, leading them to rank 10th in D3Datacast's National Efficiency Ratings. The ratings are calculated based on Ken Pomeroy's statistical method for ranking teams at the Division I level. The Cardinals rank 11th in the adjusted offensive efficiency metric and 46th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
• Ranked 18th in the country per D3hoops.com, Catholic is also regionally ranked, coming in at number three in this week's updated Region V rankings behind Widener and Hood. Catholic owns two victories over regionally-ranked opponents; Stevens and Roanoke.

 

THE MATCHUP

• Similar to the women's matchup, Catholic and Susquehanna split the regular-season contests with each team winning at home. Susquehanna won 60-58 on December 6 before Catholic ripped off a 14-game winning streak. In January, Catholic picked up a 75-67 win to snap a six-game skid to the River Hawks.
• This will be Catholic and Susquehanna's third-ever meeting in the Landmark Tournament and first since the 2016 Landmark Championship game. Catholic defeated Susquehanna 83-80 to earn the 2016 title. Susquehanna defeated Catholic in the 2014 Semis. 
• Four players scored in double figures for Catholic in the winning effort led by 15 from Sechi. Hafemeister added 15 in the win. Brandon Lavitt added 13 and nine in Susquehanna's victory over the Cardinals. 

 

LANDMARK CONFERENCE HISTORY

• Catholic appears in its fifth-ever Landmark Championship game in search of its third Landmark title in program history and first since 2015-16.
• Catholic heads to the Landmark Championship game for the first time under Aaron Kelly after falling in the semis three straight times under the fifth-year head man. 93 points is the most scored by Catholic in a Landmark Tournament game and the 11 threes made are also a tournament record for the Cardinals. Sechi becomes the fifth player in Cardinal history to score at least 21 in a Landmark Tournament game joining Bryson Fonville, RJ Dixon, Hafemeister, and Jay Howard. His five three-pointers tie Kyle Phanord for the most by a Cardinal as well.