LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Catholic men's basketball team continued their stint at the Rotary Club of Frederick Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday evening against Hood College. The Cardinals forced the Blazers to overtime after a regulation fierce battle, but ultimately fell 106-109.

Hood started the game strong against the Cardinals, going up 26-18 in the first half. Catholic found their groove on the court, coming back from an eight-point deficit and battling the Blazers for the lead. Catholic went 15-36 from the field and 7-10 from the line. They also had 21 rebounds to the Blazers' 18. 

CJ Ruoff set the tone early for the Cardinals, leading with 10 points in the first 10 minutes. Brian Herbert began his scoring surge as well, finishing with 14 points in the first half. 
Jamie Ntiamoah had six rebounds in the first, finishing the game with eight in total. The Cardinals trailed by two heading into the halftime break, Hood leading 44-42.

Catholic took a significant lead in the second half, going up by as much as nine points over the Blazers. The Cardinals went 7-8 from the free throw line and went 41.4% from beyond the arc, holding the Blazers to only 18.8 from three. Hood fought hard to take back the lead, but CJ Ruoff locked in two free throws, evening the score to 95-95, sending the game to overtime. 

The Blazers took the lead first in overtime play and maintained it for the remainder of the game. Catholic kept trying to narrow the gap, but in the end they fell to Hood 106-109.

Herbert made it his mission to top his season-opening performance, recording 33 points in the game and going 66.7 from the field. Ruoff neared a double-double performance, picking up 29 points and nine rebounds. Peter Gellene also notched a double-digit performance, adding 21 points to the Cardinals tally.

Up next, Catholic will return to Franny Murray Court for their home opener against Johns Hopkins. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.