SCRANTON, Pa. — The Catholic University men's basketball team won its 13th-straight game on Saturday, downing Scranton comfortably behind a balanced performance.
A huge run to close the first half put distance between the two teams and the Cardinals never looked back. Over the final six-and-a-half minutes of the opening stanza, No. 15 Catholic outscored the Royals 18-3 to open up a 20-point advantage at the break.
The strong 20 minutes were due in large part to a monster first half by Enzo Sechi. The graduate student was one rebound shy of a first-half double-double as he keyed the Cardinals with 13 points and nine rebounds. He added a board and an and-one in the second half to complete the double-double with 16 and 10.
Jesse Hafemeister was also vital to Catholic's early success and stayed hot in the second half as well. After being named to the Small College Basketball Trevor Hudgins Top 25 Watch List earlier this week, the senior dropped 15 in the opening frame before adding 10 to carry the Cardinals out of the Royals' reach. Hafemeister is now just three points short of 15th all-time on Catholic's scoring charts.
It was more of the same for the Cardinals in the second half as Catholic again held Scranton to just 28 points in the stanza. Brian Herbert and Sean Neylon both finished with 13 points apiece.
The keys to success for Aaron Kelly's team on the day was efficiency and shot-making. The four double-digit scorers combined to miss just 10 total shots from the field, shooting a combined 28-of-38 (73.7%). Five players also registered three or more assists with Tommy Kelly and Dan Buckley (four each) joining Hafemister, Herbert and Neylon (three each) in creating quality shots for each other. The Cardinals dished out 21 assists as a team while only committing 11 turnovers.
Twelve Catholic players scored as 16 saw the floor. Kelly's team shot a staggering 65 percent from the field, completely dominating the painted area and outscoring Scranton 50-22 in tight to the hoop. The Cardinals also shot over 40 percent from three-point range.
With the win, Catholic has now won six of its last seven against the Royals, but Scranton may argue it took the most important of the bunch when it knocked the Cardinals out of the Landmark Conference Tournament in the semifinal last season.
The victory takes Catholic to 13-1 in Landmark Conference play, and thanks to results elsewhere, the Cardinals have now opened up a two-game lead at the top of the standings. Wilkes defeated Susquehanna by 34 today, seeing the River Hawks drop to 11-3 in second place.
The Cardinals will look to continue their winning streak and inch closer to securing a first-round bye and home-court advantage throughout the entirety of the conference tournametn next time out against Juniata. Tip-off in Huntingdon is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.
