Ryan Tufford | Catholic Athletics
LANCASTER, Pa. - The Catholic Cardinals used a dominant opening 20 minutes to oust sixth-ranked Randolph-Macon from the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night. The Cardinals outscored the Yellow Jackets 39-22 in the first half en route to a 79-67 victory in the Second Round. Catholic will advance to the Sectional Round for the first time since 2002 and the sixth time in program history.
Sean Neylon scored 19 points to pace Catholic while Brian Herbert scored 18 on just eight shots. CJ Ruoff added 10 points off the bench while Dan Buckley and Justin Green each added nine.
The Cardinal defense gave Randolph-Macon fits, holding the Yellow Jackets to just 34.5 percent shooting and 26.1 percent from three-point range.
Leading 13-10 with 11:05 to play in the first, Neylon drained a triple off a Jamie Ntiamoah feed to spark a 7-0 run, building Catholic's lead to 10. Ruoff assisted on a Ntiamoah make to put the Cardinals ahead 25-13 with 7:20 left before scoring his bucket after a Green steal. The lead grew to 37-19 on a Neylon jumper before increasing to 20 for the first time with 2:01 remaining in the half.
Neylon knocked down his second triple of the contest with 14:18 on the second half clock to boost the Cardinal lead to 17. Randolph-Macon pulled back within 13 with 9:32 to play, but a big time three from Ruoff made it a 58-42 game. The Yellow Jackets pushed back again, pulling within 11 with 6:13 remaining, but Herbert and Green scored the next two buckets to make Catholic's lead 64-49. Catholic's lead remained in double figures for the remainder of the contest before closing out a 12-point win.
QUICK HITTERS
- Tonight's win is the 100th of Aaron Kelly's Catholic coaching career, making him the sixth coach in Catholic's men's basketball history. He joins Fred Rice, Tom Young, Jack Bruen, Mike Lonergan, and Steve Howes.
- With 19 points tonight, Neylon has scored 1,026 points in his Catholic career, moving him past Bill Dankos, Dan Harrington, and Shawn Kane into 46th all-time in Catholic history. His 90 threes this season puts him solely in fourth place in program history and leaves him just one shy of Pat Maloney for third all-time. He is tied for seventh in single-season three-point percentage at 46.9 percent.
- Catholic improves to 19-14 all-time in the NCAA Division III Tournament with the victory. Catholic reaches its sixth Sweet Sixteen in its 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, joining the 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 teams.
- The Cardinal's 29 free throws are the third-most makes from the charity stripe in Catholic's NCAA Tournament history, following 33 makes vs. Ohio Northern in 2001 and 32 makes against William Paterson in 2001.
- With 18 more points tonight, Herbert is averaging 16.4 points per game over his last seven outings, shooting an impressive 63.8 percent from the field. He has scored 15 points or more in six of the last seven contests, dating back to Feb. 15.
Catholic will meet Roanoke in the next round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament after the Maroons held on for a two-point victory over Christopher Newport. More information to follow on dates, times, and locations.