The green and white jumped out the early advantage as they led 10-3 a little less over three minutes into the game. The Spartans eventually pushed the lead to eight on four different occasions in the early parts of the first half. With the Spartans leading 22-14 with 12:14 remaining in the first half, the Cardinals hit the green and white with a 13-2 run, capped by a pair of tough treys by Patrick Satalin, to take the 27-24 lead. The Spartans tied the game at 28 two minutes later but the Cardinals took the lead for good on a pair of William Morley free throws with 7:17 left in the half. The Cardinals built the lead to as many as seven before settling for a 47-44 lead at the half.
The green and white opened the second half with a Steve Schmehl layup but Catholic scored the next nine points to take the 56-46 lead just 2:31 into the second half. Back-to-back lay-ups by Ben Seibert and Kenny Fass cut the lead to six but that is as close as the Spartans got the rest of the way. The Cardinals biggest lead was 14 at 76-62 but the Spartans continued to battle and keep themselves within striking distance. The Spartans trimmed the lead to 76-69 with 4:37 left but the Cardinals salted away the win with a pair of layups and an 11-of-12 performance from the free throw line over the final 4:05 of the game.
The Spartans were led by Schmehl as the senior had 17 points on Senior Night. Stephen Grimes, Brandon Bushey, and Brad Zerfing each added 11 points while Fass rounded out the Spartans’ double figure scorers with 10 markers. Seibert led the Spartans on the glass with five caroms to accompany his eight points and four rebounds.
Satalin nailed a career-high 25 points as the freshman was 9-for-17 from the floor including 5-for-9 from three and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. William Morley, the front runner for the CAC Player of the Year award, recorded 19 points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Patrick Dwyer contributed 12 points including 6-for-7 from the charity stripe while Blair Mills was the fourth Cardinal in double figures with 10 points.
The Cardinals finished the contest shooting 50.9% from the floor and 47.4% from behind the arc. The Spartans ended the game shooting 50.8% from the floor but a chilly 12.5% from downtown. Catholic held a decided advantage from the free throw line as CUA was 26-for-32 (81.3%) while the Spartans attempted just 17 charity tosses, converting 14 for an accuracy mark of 82.4%.
The Spartans conclude their regular season with a trip to St. Mary’s College. A win gives the Spartans a home game in the opening round of the CAC tournament next Tuesday while a loss will probably knock the Spartans down to the fifth seed where they will have to travel in the opening round. Tip time in St. Mary’s City on Saturday is set for 4:00 pm.