Since it was their fourth meeting of the season, they knew each other so well it boiled down to a matter of execution.
And Catholic University made the plays at crunch time last night to eliminate host Goucher from the Division III Middle Atlantic tournament, 73-69, at a jam-packed Sports and Recreation Center.
The victory sends Catholic (23-6) into the next round Friday against William Patterson, which upset top-seeded Rowan. Goucher finishes at 23-5.
Gophers coach Leonard Trevino did not believe a first-round bye hurt his team, which had not played in a week, while the Cardinals were playing and beating a tough Lebanon Valley team on the road.
"I don't think that hurt us," said Trevino. "We played four times and we split. These teams are very close. It's just a matter of executing."
Goucher rallied from a seven-point deficit with a 16-0 streak to take control, 61-54, with eight minutes to play. The Cardinals responded with the next six points and it was nip-and-tuck for the next few minutes. With 5: 12 left, the Gophers had a 67-64 edge following a driving basket by Todd Sykes.
But Goucher did not score from the field again, Catholic made five of six tries from the foul line and Sean Tuohey and Dan Harrington (22 points) pitched in with key baskets.
Despite the drought, the Gophers had a chance after Vince Williams dropped in two free throws to bring them to within 71-69 with a minute to go, and Mike Lepeonka missed a short jumper from a tough angle to give Goucher the ball.
The final shot was set up for Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year Bakari Ward (Arundel) and he tried to get off a three-pointer. But the ball was blocked by the 6-foot-3 Tuohey, who calmly sank two foul shots at the other end to ice the verdict.
"I thought I was open," said Ward, "but the big guy got it."
A shift of Tuohey onto Ward was a key factor in rationing the Gopher star to nine shots and 10 points. "We wanted to give him a different look late in the game," said Catholic coach Mike Lonergan. "At the end, we really felt they'd try to get the three and Sean was able to block it."
Lonergan thought his team lost its composure during the Gophers' big run and called two timeouts to try to stem the momentum.
"I can't repeat what I said," he related. "But I was trying to challenge a couple of guys. We were starting to throw the game away."
Ward hit two three-pointers during the surge, finally finding some open looks, while the Cardinals tossed away the ball six times and could not connect from the floor.
"We had the game under control then," said Trevino. "But then [Shawn] Kane hit a big step back three for them and they stopped the run."
The defeat broke a six-game winning streak by Goucher, which had won 13 of its previous 14 starts. The No. 2 seed in the region shared the regular-season CAC title with the Cardinals.
Trevino felt sympathy for his seniors, including starters Ward, Williams (Calvert Hall) and Mike Doyle.
"This is a class that has won over 75 percent of its games and you want to keep them together as long as you can," he said. "It should hurt them because they didn't get everything they wanted. I hate to see their careers end like this."
CATHOLIC -- Harrington 9-15 3-4 22, Maloney 3-10 2-4 9, Tuohey 2-6 5-5 9, Gallagher 4-6 2-3 10, Lepeonka 4-8 2-2 10, Judge 1-1 0-0 3, Kane 1-3 2-2 5, McNiff 0-1 0-0 0, Ku.Zeisler 1-1 1-1 3, Kr.Ziesler 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 26-53 17-21 73.
GOUCHER -- Burke 4-6 0-0 8, Ward 3-9 1-2 10, Stola 2-4 0-0 4, Williams 2-7 4-6 8, Doyle 3-9 0-0 6, Schuler 1-3 2-2 4, Lee 2-5 2-2 6, Sykes 3-4 0-1 6, Threatt 2-2 7-9 11, LoCascio 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 25-55 16-22 69.
Halftime--Catholic 39-33. 3-point goals--CU 4-12 (Harrington 1-1, Maloney 1-3, Tuohey 0-3, Judge 1-1, Kane 1-3, McNiff 0-1). GC 3-13 (Ward 3-5, Williams 0-2, Doyle 0-4, Schuler 0-1, Lee 0-1). Fouled out--Lee. Rebounds--CU 33 (Maloney, Gallagher 7), GC 30 (Ward 5). Assists--CU 14 (Touhey 6), GC 14 (Doyle 5). Total fouls--CU 10, GC 20. A--837.
Pub Date: 3/07/99