FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Catholic (9-2) opened up the new year with a 12-point road victory at Mary Washington (6-7) on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals outscored the Eagles by six points in each half as they picked up their sixth victory by 10 or more points so far this season.
Sean Neylon returned to his early season form after back-to-back games of less than 10 points, scoring a game-high 23 points on 9-14 shooting. Neylon hit five three-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinals in the victory.
Neylon scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half, hitting five of his eight attempts from distance as Catholic built a 32-26 lead.
The Eagles burst out to an 8-2 lead in the first 1:48, but
Googie Seidman and Neylon each nailed threes in succession to tie the contest at 8. The Cardinals jumped out to an eight-point advantage at the 13:43 mark as Neylon nailed his second three of the half.
CJ Ruoff pushed Catholic's lead into double figures with 10:06 remaining in the half before Neylon scored five more points to finish off a 12-0 run for the Cardinals to take a 24-9 edge. Neylon's fourth three put Catholic ahead 29-12 before his fifth three made it 32-17 with 3:20 left in the half before Mary Washington ended the half on a 9-0 run.
Catholic used an early 7-0 run in the second half, taking a 45-30 lead on a pair of Ruoff free throws with 12:37 to play. Mary Washington pulled within nine at the 8:55 mark as Jadon Burgess knocked down a triple, but
Dan Buckley immediately stretched the lead back to double digits.
Leading by 11 with 8:37 to play, Catholic outscored the Eagles 10-9 the rest of the way, leading by as many as 16 before closing out a 12-point victory.
QUICK HITTERS
- Catholic has won five straight against Mary Washington, dating back to 2007. Regular foes in the Capital Athletic Conference, the Cardinals and the Eagles did not play between 2007 and 2023. The Cardinals are 3-0 against the Eagles under Aaron Kelly.
- Saturday marked Neylon's fifth game this season with 20 or more points, and first since November. The senior has made four or more threes in six games this season after hitting five today to reach 40 makes on the season from deep.
- Justin Green grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench, his first game with 10 or more rebounds since February, 2022.
- Now 6-0 in true road games in 2024-25, Catholic has built a Division III-best 14-game road winning streak, dating back to December, 2023.
Next up for Catholic is a mid-week road contest at Lycoming on Wednesday at 4 pm.
