Gophers Make Unwelcome Entry in Record Book

Lindsay Finishes Season with 29 Blocks, One Short of School Record

TOWSON, Md. — If Goucher was planning a record-setting performance in the final game of the 2009-10 season against Catholic, the Gophers certainly would have picked a different record to break than the one they did tonight.

Playing in front of 569 fans in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center, the Gophers were held to an all-time low point total as they were bested by the Cardinals, 46-33.

The previous record for fewest points scored by Goucher in the 20-year history of the school's men's basketball program was the 35 points the Gophers were limited to earlier this season by Princeton. The fewest points they've ever scored against a Division III opponent prior to tonight were the 39 they tallied when they faced Lawrence on December 29, 2005.

Ironically, the Gophers also pulled off one of the best defensive performances of their existence tonight by holding the Cardinals to 46 points. Only 10 times have they limited an opponent to 46 or fewer points, which includes the all-time low total of 40 by Gallaudet on February 8, 1997.

The Cardinals didn't appear to have any trouble scoring at the outset of tonight's Landmark Conference contest as R.J. Dixon's second basket of the game put them ahead 11-4 after 4:22. Over the next 7:18, however, they failed to score a single point, opening the door for the Gophers to get right back in the game with a run of seven straight points that created an 11-11 tie.

Catholic, which was 9-for-26 from the field (.346) in the first half, ended the period with a 9-0 run of its own to open up a 25-15 advantage at the break. The Gophers (7-17, 5-9 Landmark) made only six of the 27 shots they took in the opening 20:00, and missed all seven of their three-point attempts.

Goucher's shooting improved only slightly in the second half: 6-for-24 (.250) overall, 1-for-9 (.111) from three-point territory. The Gophers closed to within 38-31 on a three-pointer by Pat Bailey (Rockville, Md./Magruder) with 4:46 remaining, but they missed seven of their final eight shots the rest of the way.

The only double-digit scorer for Goucher was Trae Lindsay (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco), who had 10 points to go along with a career-high eight rebounds. The freshman forward also blocked three shots, upping his total for all 24 games to 29. The single-season school record for blocked shots is 30, established by Thabo Letsebe in 2001-02.

For the Cardinals (18-7, 10-4 Landmark), Shawn Holmes was the leading scorer with 12 points.