Catholic University Men’s Basketball Grounds Gophers at Home

By Neil Kavanaugh

The Catholic University Men’s Basketball Team defeated Goucher College 75-60 at home this Wednesday. The Cardinals held the lead for almost the entire game, dominating the Gophers in time of possession. Junior Riley Hayes led the Cardinals in scoring with 17 points, including seven free throws.

The first half started off very even between both teams. Catholic would score, and Goucher would answer on the next possession. This continued for the first five minutes until Catholic started to pick up their game with 15:39 left. The score was 9-8 Cardinals when Catholic found their groove and started to pile up the baskets on the Gophers. The Cardinals started to take a double digit lead thanks to Hayes, junior Collin Hartmann, senior Andre Mitchell, Will Turgeon, and freshman Will Mulquin, who brought the score to 23-12 with 9:27 left in the half.

Hayes made a dunk to add two more to the score at 8:51. Senior guard Jimmy Golaszewski made two free throws, followed by a layup from Mulquin. Mitchell made two free throws to bring the final score of the first to 31-29 Cards.

The Birds started the second quarter trying to get back their double digit lead, having lead by 15 points at one point in the first. The Gophers got a basket early in the half to tie the game, and then made two free throws to pull ahead by 2. This lead lasted for exactly 19 seconds, as Hartmann made a jump shot to tie the game, which Hayes followed up with a layup to bring the Birds back in the lead 35-33. Milquin, Hayes, and Turgeon combined for another 12 points, and Catholic coasted to a 20 point lead thanks to a three-pointer from sophomore guard Justin Pryor. With 6:22 left, the Birds were winning 62-42. The Gophers tried to make a comeback, but the lead was insurmountable. The closest Goucher came was reducing the lead to 12, but it soon fell back to 15 points. The game ended with a last minute jump shot from the Gophers to bring the game to a 75-60 finish.

“I am proud that we were able to win in what was Andre and Jimmy’s last home game,” said Coach Steve Howes. “They are tremendous young men who have represented our program in a first class manner and contributed to a lot of wins over the last 4 years. The season has not gone as we would have wished but we have a bright future. I appreciate all the student support at games this season, especially the baseball team who rock the baseline bleachers for us.”

The Catholic University Men’s Basketball team improves to 10-14 (6-7), and is set to play their season finale this Saturday, January 16 at Drew University.