WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was a historic meeting between Gallaudet University and cross-town foe Catholic University of America on Wednesday night at the DuFour Center as the two longtime rivals meet up in the ECAC South men's basketball championship quarterfinal round. In a barnburner of a game the third-seed Cardinals defeated the sixth-seed Bison 66-58 before a crowd of 235, which consisted of a strong contingent of Bison faithful that made the short drive over. The game marked the 116th meeting between the two District of Columbia institutions that dates back to 1911.
Gallaudet (17-11) led by five, 44-39, with just under nine minutes left in regulation after sophomore forward Danny Kelly (Strongsville, Ohio) made a layup and forced Catholic Coach Steve Howes to call a timeout. The Cardinals (20-8) came out on fire and nailed four 3-pointers as they went on a 16-3 run to take the lead 55-47 with 3:49 on the clock. CUA senior guard R.J. Dixon (17 points) hit three of the four 3-pointers during the run to swing the momentum away from Gallaudet.
The Bison didn't give in as two back-to-back 3-pointers from juniors Brandon McMillan (Frederick, Md.) and Layton Seeber (Champaign, Ill.) cut the Cardinal lead to three, 59-56, with 1:20 left in the second half. Catholic sealed the game with clutch free-throw shooting and will advance to Saturday's semifinal game where it will face second-seed DeSales University (20-8). DeSales defeated seventh-seed Neumann University 86-74 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
"The future is bright for Gallaudet men's basketball. I love this team and it is tough to see the season end but we have a lot to be proud of," said Gallaudet Coach Jeb Barber, who completed his fourth season. "I want to thank the seniors for all of their hard work and dedication. I especially want to thank Bobby Siebert my first four-year player. He is a classy person who has a great future ahead of him."
The pairing of Gallaudet and Catholic, two former founding members of the Capital Athletic Conference, was only fitting this year as the Cardinals celebrate their 100th anniversary of their men's basketball program. The first varsity game ever for CUA was against Gallaudet on January 7, 1911. The Cardinals won that game 42-33 but later that season the Bison got the best of Catholic with a 45-17 win.
Gallaudet had a solid first half as the Bison shot 42.3 percent from the field and scored 10 points off nine Cardinal turnovers. GU also held a 14-10 advantage in the paint and outrebound Catholic by one, 19-18. Catholic shot a dismal 10 percent (1-for-10) from 3-point range and only mustard a 27.6 shooting percentage from the field. The Bison took a 24-18 lead into halftime.
Seeber led all-scorers with 19 points and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals in 37 minutes of action. Kelly came off the bench to net 10 points, four rebounds and three steals while fellow forward Daniel Fava (Baltimore, Md.) scored five and brought down 10 rebounds, his second-highest mark this season. Junior Tony Tatum (Gardendale, Ala.) finished with only three points but contributed with six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Senior Luther Weedon (Walkersville, Md.) played his last game in the Buff and Blue and tallied eight points, six coming from two 3-pointers.
Catholic had three players in double figures including Dixon, who netted 15 of his team-high 17 in the second half. Center Chris Kearney scored 13 points, eight rebounds while guard Shawn Holmes poured in 12 and passed out six assists. Cardinal forward Jason Banzhaf was held scoreless in the first half and only finished with six points and eight rebounds in the win.
The Cardinals shot 8-for-11 (72.7 percent) from 3-point range in the second half while the Bison made 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from long range. CUA held a 42-34 rebound edge and scored 18 points off 20 Bison turnovers. The Cardinals also scored 12 second chance points while GU was held to zero. Gallaudet finished the game with a 26-22 advantage in the paint.
CUA reaches 20 wins in a season for the first time since 2007, which was the last season for the Cardinals in the CAC. The last Gallaudet win in the series came on January 20, 2007, when the Bison entered the DuFour Center and walked out with a 55-51 victory.