WASHINGTON — The Catholic University of America men's basketball team earned a nationally-ranked and Landmark Conference victory on Saturday afternoon inside the DuFour Center as the Cardinals defeated previously unbeaten No. 23 Juniata, 82-70.
The Cardinals never trailed in the game as senior Jay Howard led the charge with a career-high 33 points.
Catholic shot 58-percent from the field at 50-percent from 3-point range while limiting the Eagles to just seven makes on 23 triples attempted.
Howard went 12-of-19 from the field and 9-of-13 from the line as he played every minute for the fourth time in five games. Meanwhile, junior Jimmy Golaszewski was near-perfect from the field and just missed his career-high by one with 25 points. He was 8-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-7 from long range.
Junior Andre Mitchell joined as Cardinals in double-figure scoring with 14 points and tied a career-best mark with a game-high seven rebounds. Catholic's scoring trio accounted for all but 10 points.
Catholic came out strong and its largest lead of the game at 29-12 midway through the first half.
Juniata was able to up it to an eight-point lead with 2:37 left in the stanza, but Catholic ended the half on a 10-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Golaszewski with four seconds left.
The Eagles were able to get within single digits with a 10-4 run after the break, but Catholic answered with three-straight baskets to push the lead back to 15.
Juniata had one last run in them that cut it to eight, 76-68, with only 49 seconds left but Golaszewski, Howard and Mitchell all converted free throws down the stretch.
Sophomore Collin Hartmann also posted a career-high with seven assists and registered a full line with five points, six rebounds and a steal.
Catholic continues Landmark play this Wednesday, January 10, at 7 p.m., against Elizabethtown.
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