WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The Catholic men's basketball team came into Saturday's game looking to complete a season sweep over Wilkes after taking care of the Colonels on the road earlier in the season. After falling behind early in the game, the Cardinals were unconscious from the field in the second half, shooting over 70% as a team to knock off the Colonels going away, 94-64, to improve to 14-3 and 9-1 in the Landmark on the season.

Wilkes came out in a groove offensively, making six of seven shots, capped off by a Mason Fedor three to get out to a 22-16 lead in the opening 10 minutes. Catholic clawed back into the game and grabbed a 30-29 lead with just four minutes left in the half. The team proceeded to go on a 12-3 run to close out the half and take a 41-32 lead into the break. Sean Neylon and CJ Ruoff both dropped four points during the run and the big play came right at the buzzer when Ethan Hinds snagged a rebound and got his shot off with 0.1 seconds remaining on the clock to beat the buzzer and send Catholic to the locker room with all the momentum.

The Colonels made a push to get back into the game out of halftime with a 7-0 run spurred by Jack Argento but from that point forward the contest was all Catholic. After the Wilkes run, Catholic outscored them 53-25 the rest of the game while shooting 19-for-27 from the field and 8-for-10 from beyond the arc. Six different Cardinal players knocked down three's in the half, including Brian Herbert, who scored nine of his 13 points in the second half. Catholic also used the charity stripe much to its advantage as they were 18-for-21 (86%) while Wilkes was just 7-for-16 (44%). The Cardinals went on to rout the Colonels 94-64 to remain in second in the Landmark standings. 

It was another stellar shooting display for Neylon, leading the team in points with 24 while shooting 6-for-9 from three point range. It was his seventh game with 20+ points so far this season and he has now done so in three of the last four contests. If the season ended today, Neylon's 53.8% from deep would rank first all-time in a single season in program history with a minimum of 100 threes attempted. 

Jamie Ntiamoah and Herbert both also scored double-digit points with 13 while Herbert also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Charley Hepting shined off the bench for the Cardinals with eight points, six rebounds and three assists. The team's 71% from beyond the arc is its highest of the season while making the second-most three's the team has made in a game, 12. 

Catholic has now won by 30 or more points in two of the three matchups against Wilkes at Franny Murray Court. Wilkes last DIII loss by 30 or more to a non-Catholic team was during the 2020-21 season against DeSales on February 12 (77-43). All of Wilkes' previous losses this season were by six or fewer points.

The Cardinals are back on the road for their next contest on Wednesday, January 29 when they take on Susquehanna. Tip off is set for 7 pm at the Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium.