EMMITSBURG -- It was a game Mount St. Mary's figured to win comfortably, but nothing has come easily to this team yet.
The Mountaineers failed to shake pesky Catholic University until late in the second half and scored their first victory, 89-72, last night at Knott Arena.
"Unfortunately, when you win you think you played well," said Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan. "But we had a poor effort against a hustling team. I'm not pleased at all with this performance."
Division III Catholic (2-3) was within 55-50 when Chris McGuthrie went on a rampage that clinched the decision.
Mount St. Mary's unleashed a 20-9 streak that included 13 points by McGuthrie. His two free throws capped the run and gave the Mountaineers a 75-59 cushion with 3:51 left.
The Cardinals refused to wilt, rallying to within 77-67 before Mount St. Mary's (1-2) sank eight of 10 free throws to open it up again.
McGuthrie finished with a game-high 29 points, two more than Catholic's John Douglas, who poured in 17 in the second half.
Mount St. Mary's did no damage inside against the Cardinals, who sagged back into a zone and threw a blanket around 7-foot Randy Edney, 6-11 Gerben Van Dorpe and 6-9 Matt Meakin.
Edney finished with eight points and nine rebounds, but two of his baskets came after the game had been decided.
McGuthrie said, "We knew we had them outsized, but they gave us a lot of open jump shots by concentrating their defense inside.
"We didn't have any particular plan to go in there. We just wanted to play our game. But, obviously, we have to work on our shooting.
The Mount shot 12 for 39 (30.8 percent) in the first half and only a late surge of fast-break and transition baskets brought them to 42.7 percent for the game.
Catholic was swamped at Radford, 100-59, in its only previous start against a Division I foe, but led for the first 10 1/2 minutes in this game while its zone shackled the Mount frontcourt and its zest neutralized the backcourt.
Mount St. Mary's began to find some life when Michael Watson and Sefton Robinson entered the game, and it took the lead for the first time with 9:25 remaining in the first half on a three-pointer by Robinson.
But the Cardinals hung around, thanks to Douglas and 5-8 guard Pat Buckley (16 points).
"The worst part was the way we were defending," said Phelan. "If they had hit their foul shots, they would have led at the half.
"And at the end, they were playing with five guards and stealing the ball from our rebounders."
McGuthrie said he didn't think the Mountaineers "took them lightly. We just came out playing a little soft."
Mount St. Mary's started as if it still had a hangover from Tuesday night's one-point loss to Towson State here, but played well enough in a short stretch to prevent an upset.
"We needed one on the left side and we got it," said Phelan. "That's about the only good thing you can say about this game."
The Cardinals finished with 28 turnovers, missed half their 30 free throws and had 13 fewer rebounds.
Watson chipped in with 16 points and sank 10 of 12 free throws as Mount St. Mary's improved dramatically at the line after making 10 of 23 against Towson State.
Except for an exhibition game next Saturday, it marked the final home appearance for the Mountaineers until Dec. 30, when Phelan's alma mater, La Salle, visits.