FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Jesse Hafemeister scored a career-high 33 points to lead Catholic to a 79-69 road victory over #21 Mary Washington on Tuesday evening. The Cardinals improve to 12-0 on the season, remaining one of eight unbeaten teams in Division III men's basketball. 

Trailing 34-28 at the break, Catholic took over the contest early in the second half, opening the half on a 12-2 run to take a 40-36 lead at the 16:43 mark after a pair of Tommy Kelly free throws. Hafemeister's third three of the game at the 17:00 mark pushed Catholic ahead 38-36, giving them a lead they would never give back. 

Mary Washington cut the lead back to two for Catholic, but Jake Melady hit a three with 15:10 to play to push the Cardinal lead to 45-40. At the 12:34 mark, another Hafemeister three extended Catholic's lead to seven as the Cardinals began to pull away. 

Brian Herbert rebounded a miss and put it back in for an eight-point Catholic lead before a pair of Kelly free throws pushed the lead to 10 for the first time with just over 10 minutes remaining. Back-to-back three-pointers from Kelly just 30 seconds apart extended the lead to 62-48 as the game entered the final nine minutes. 

A pair of threes brought the Eagles back within eight, but Hafemeister stopped the mini run with a jumper and Melady followed with a three to put Catholic ahead 67-54 with 5:53 to play. 

With 30 points to his name, Hafemeister hit three free throws in the final 1:15 to reach 33 points, setting a new career-best and helping to put away the 10-point victory.

The Cardinals led for a large chunk of the first half, holding a 25-21 lead with 6:50 to play before an extended scoring drought allowed UMW to use a 13-3 run to hold a six-point halftime advantage. 

Kelly (14 points) and Sean Neylon (12 points) joined Hafemeister in double digits for a Catholic offense that hit 11 threes and made 20-of-23 from the charity stripe. Dan Buckley chipped in with four points and a career-best 11 rebounds.

Catholic's 12-0 start surpasses 2011-12's 11-0 run to begin the season and marks the longest win streak for Catholic men's basketball since the 2014-15 Cardinals won 15 straight.

Hafemeister's 33 points are the most in a game by a Catholic player since Andre Mitchell scored 36 at Moravian on January 1, 2019. 

Catholic welcomes Scranton to D.C. on Saturday in game two of the Landmark Conference doubleheader. Tip is slated for 4 pm.