MEDFORD, Mass. - The Catholic men's basketball team looked to continue its run in the DIII NCAA Tournament on Saturday evening in a matchup against the hosts of the pod, Tufts. The Cardinals battled throughout the 40 minutes, opening a 10 point lead in the first half, but the Jumbos made a run in the second half to take control of the action and come away with a 74-60 victory.

The teams traded buckets back and forth to an 8-8 tie in the opening seven minutes before the Cardinals seized control with a 10-2 run to take an 18-10 advantage. Chris Rubayo came up with buckets on back-to-back possessions before CJ Ruoff and Googie Seidman nailed threes on back-to-back possessions. Later in the half, Michael Dankert came up with a tip in layup and Ruoff buried a pair of free throws to extend the Catholic lead out to 10, its largest of the game. Tufts went on a run to cut the deficit down to five at halftime at 31-26. The Cardinals held the Jumbos to 11-for-30 from the field and 1-for-10 from deep in the opening 20 minutes.

Tufts made life difficult for Catholic throughout the second half on the offensive end with their prowess, holding it to just 28.6 percent from the field. Tufts also found its footing on the offensive end, going 16-for-30 from the field to help pull away from Catholic and close out a 74-60 victory. 

The Cardinals finished the season with a 20-8 record, the fourth consecutive season with 20 or more wins for the program. Catholic also advanced past the opening round of the tournament for the third consecutive season. 
Ruoff led the way in scoring for the Cardinals with 23 points while also knocking down three shots from deep. Brian Herbert also reached double digit points for Catholic with 16 while also leading the team in rebounds with seven.

The senior class of Ruoff, Herbert, Jamie Ntiamoah and Charley Hepting finished their careers with a total of five wins in the NCAA Tournament while also capturing one Landmark Conference title and advancing to the Elite Eight in the dance in the 2024-25 season.

Of Note

• Ruoff finished the season averaging 19.5 points per game to lead the team and finish with the eight-best single-season points per game total in program history. He also scored the seventh-most points in a season in DIII program history with 547.
• Herbert's 16 point effort moved him to 1,218 points for his career. That total moved him up to 20th on the program all-time scoring list.
• Seidman finished the season with 58 steals for the Cardinals to sit in a tie for fourth for the most steals in a single-season in program history.