WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Catholic men's basketball team hosted Juniata in a midweek conference matchup looking for a bounce back win and a series sweep of the Eagles. With a two point lead with four minutes left in regulation, the Cardinals came up with key plays down the stretch to pull away from the Eagles for a 71-56 victory to improve to 15-5 on the season.

The Cardinals lit the floor up from deep to open up the game as all of their first four field goals came from deep in the opening minutes. Matthew Gorman opened up the scoring with a three while CJ Ruoff also made one and Googie Seidman made a pair. Seidman put together a stellar first half for Catholic, scoring 17 points while converting four times from beyond the arc to help the Cardinals take a 36-31 lead into the halftime break. In total, the Cardinals made seven threes in the first half to help build the lead.

Even though Catholic never trailed in the second half, Juniata continued to battle and stayed within single digits through the final 20 minutes to keep things competitive. A two-handed dunk from Charley Hepting put the Cardinals up by nine with 10 minutes left in the action but the Eagles scored on three straight possessions to quickly cut the deficit back down to three. 

The Eagles scored with 4:11 left in the contest to make it a two-point game but Seidman slowed the momentum with another triple to push the lead back up to 60-55. Ruoff came up big in the final minutes with a pair of buckets and Jamie Ntiamoah added another to help take a double digit lead for the first time in the second half. The Cardinals converted at the free throw line to help close the game out on a 14-1 to seal the deal and capture a 15 point win. The Cardinals are now 11-2 in Landmark play, holding the top spot in the standings. 

Seidman finished the game leading the team in points with 20, his first 20 point performance of the season, coming just one point shy of matching his career high. Seidman also got the job done on the boards for Catholic, matching his career-high with eight to tie for the team lead.

Ruoff and Gorman were the other two Cardinals to score double-digit points in the victory with 15 and 13 respectively. Gorman's 13 points were a career-high for him and the sophomore also pulled down a career-high in rebounds with seven. Ntiamoah was also solid for Catholic with seven points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

Up next, the Cardinals will host Moravian on Saturday, February 7th. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Franny Murray Court for Alumni Day. Catholic will also be honoring the 2001 Men's Basketball NCAA National Championship team.