SELINSGROVE, PA – Susquehanna men's basketball picked up a pivotal Landmark Conference victory Wednesday night, holding Catholic to a season-low 58 points to grab a 60-58 win over the Cardinals to advance to 3-0 in Landmark play on the year and 5-2 overall. CUA, who entered Wednesday night receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll, move to 2-1 in the Landmark and 6-2 overall.

In this highly-defensive matchup, scoring was at a premium in the early minutes. The River Hawks picked up some steam to build a 28-19 lead to end the half. SU carried this good fortune through the start of the second half leading 37-24 for its largest lead of the game thanks to a 3-pointer by AJ Lomax for his only made field goal of the game. CUA suddenly took control of the game halfway through the second half by reducing Susquehanna's lead to one with a three by Jake Timby. Following a seesaw seven minutes the Cardinals saw themselves up by three at 55-52 when Dan Buckley dropped in a 3-pointer. Catholic then called a timeout, which might have given head coach Frank Marcinek a key opportunity to address his team.

This theory was put to the test as the River Hawks scored on their next three possessions to go back up 58-56. Catholic's rebuttal was denied as Marcus Mitchell came up with a key steal, which set up Jackson Van Wagener drawing a foul and connecting on both his free throws to lead 60-56 with less than 90 seconds left. The Cardinals were able to get a jumper on their next possession, but the River Hawks successfully drained time off the clock after rebounding a missed shot and holding the ball for as long as the shot clock permitted. A missed jumper put the ball back in Catholic's hands with just eight seconds remaining, running down the court as Jesse Hafemeister's fadeaway jumper hit off the front rim with zeros showing on the clock.

Wednesday night's win was a poignant one for Susquehanna, who held Catholic to a season low in scoring after the Cardinals opened their Landmark season with a pair of 40+ point wins over Elizabethtown (98-54) and Wilkes (89-47). The River Hawks share the top Landmark spot in the standings with Drew, their Palestra opponent on Saturday, Jan. 14. The win also marked the 500^th overall career win for Frank Marcinek, who is in his 35^th year at the helm of Susquehanna and 40^th overall counting his five years as an assistant coach.

While CUA's Hafemeister led all scorers with 19, Susquehanna had three double-digit scorers to Catholic's two as Brandon Lavitt tallied 13 points and one rebound shy of a double-double with nine in 33 minutes off the bench. Starter Cooper Haberern netted 11 points with eight rebounds in 35 minutes of play, while Marcus Mitchell led the team with a pair of threes, shooting 2-for-2 from behind the arc to finish with ten points. The River Hawks finished at 39.1 percent shooting (25-64) with 6-of-18 on threes and 4-of-4 on free throws, while Catholic fared 40.4 percent (23-57), making 7-of-16 threes and 5-of-11 from the line. The largest disparity of the night came from the bench, as Susquehanna littered its pine to post a 42-8 lead in bench points.

Wednesday marks Susquehanna's last home game of 2023, marking over a month away from Houts Gym until they return on Jan. 9 against Lycoming. In the meanwhile the River Hawks have another Landmark matchup this Saturday at Elizabethtown at 2 p.m. before heading to Neumann Saturday, Dec. 16 and the Washington & Lee Holiday Tournament Dec. 29-30, where they'll open with Denison and a potential matchup between either the host Generals or Franklin & Marshall.