Gophers Battle League-Leading Catholic on the Road

WASHINGTON, D.C. - No. 19 Catholic University opened up a double-digit lead early and held visiting Goucher College at arm's length the rest of the game as it recorded a 84-71 Landmark Conference men's basketball victory Wednesday evening at Franny Murray Court. Despite the loss, the Gophers maintain a one-game lead for the final Landmark Conference playoff spot with one game left.

• Catholic (21-3, 15-2 Landmark) jumped out to a 15-3 lead just over six minutes into the game.
• The Cardinals extended the lead to 18, 23-5, midway through the half.
• Goucher (9-15, 7-10) pulled within 13, 27-14, on a conventional three-point play by Darrell Green with 6:33 left in the half.
• A Green three with 2:38 left before intermission made it a 35-24 game.
• Catholic took a 39-26 lead into the locker room.

• Catholic scored the first seven points of the second half to open up a 46-26 advantage.
• A 7-3 Goucher spurt capped by a Green layup pulled the guests within 17, 56-39, with just over 12 minutes left.
• Two Green free throws with just under eight minutes left pulled the Gophers within 15, 66-51.
• A Brandon Joseph dunk with 6:40 on the clock made it 68-53, but the Cardinals maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
• Goucher worked the lead down to 11 in the final minute on a Green three that made it 82-71.

• Green matched his career high with 21 points on 6-12 shooting, including 3-7 behind the arc.  He was also 6-6 at the free throw line.
• Green reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time in seven games.
• Joseph set a career high for the second straight game, scoring 19 points on 7-9 shooting and 5-7 at the free throw line.  He also grabbed seven rebounds and reached double figures in scoring for the fourth straight contest.
• Jacob Morgan finished with 16 points, going 7-16 from the floor. Morgan scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and 13th time in 14 games.
• Goucher shot 43.3% for the game, was 5-20 behind the arc and 14-19 at the free throw line.
• The Cardinals, who bounced back from a loss to Drew on Saturday, shot 48.4% overall, were 9-25 from three and 13-17 at the stripe.  Catholic outrebounded Goucher 38-33.
• Despite the loss, Goucher remains in sixth place in the Landmark standings, a game in front of Elizabethtown.  The Blue Jays fell to Drew 80-74 on Wednesday night.  Moravian was eliminated from playoff contention with a 72-57 setback at Wilkes.

• Goucher closes out the regular season Saturday when it visits Wilkes for a 2 pm Landmark Conference game.
• The Gophers can clinch their first-ever Landmark tournament berth with a victory over the Colonels, or an Elizabethtown loss at Scranton in its regular season finale.