WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Hood College men's basketball team shot a sizzling 51.7 percent from the field in the second half to secure a hard-fought 79-73 victory over defending Capital Athletic Conference champion Catholic University Saturday at the DuFour Center.

Hood improves to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the CAC while the Cardinals suffered just their second loss of the season, slipping to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference. The Blazers head into the holiday break in third place in the CAC standings behind undefeated Mary Washington and Salisbury who own unblemished 3-0 league marks.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair which featured 10 lead changes. A three-pointer by sophomore Ryan Junghans gave the Blazers a six-point advantage (35-29), their biggest lead of the stanza. But the Cardinals ripped off eight unanswered points to go up 37-35 and Catholic took a narrow 42-40 lead into the lockerroom.

Scott Fumai had the hot hand in the first half, tallying 25 of Catholic's 42 points as the Cardinals boasted an impressive 58.6 shooting percentage in the first 20 minutes.

The Cardinals were unable to maintain their torrid pace following intermission, connecting on just 7-of-28 from the floor. Meanwhile, the Blazers outscored Catholic 22-9 run over the first 6:57 to assume a 62-51 lead. Hood never trailed again but had to hold off a furious Cardinal rally.

Catholic closed to within four on a pair of free throws by Sean Stolzenthaler with 54 seconds remaining. The Cardinals fouled Nick Scott on the ensuing inbounds pass who went to the line for two. Scott was unable to convert the foul shots and Catholic came down with the rebound, but a jumper by Stolzenthaler was off the mark. Scott grabbed the carom and fed Junghans in the lane for two to put the Blazers back up six with 34 ticks to go.

Catholic's Nick Oliverio had a chance to cut the deficit in half but his three-pointer rimmed out. Stolzenthaler hauled in the offensive rebound and was fouled on his three-point attempt. He converted 2-of-3 from the line to make it a four-point game with 20 seconds to go. Fumai immediately fouled Anthony Bennett who made 1-of-2 to make it a five-point game. The Cardinals missed their final two three-point tries and the Blazers escaped with the victory.

Junior Jesse Gutekunst registered his 20th career double-double with a team-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. Junghans netted 21 points, including 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Senior Sean Robine finished with 13 points and four boards while sophomore Nnamdi Uzoukwu came off the bench to hit 4-of-5 from the field for nine points.

The Blazers also neutralized Fumai in the second half, holding the Cardinals' leading scorer to just two second half points.

Hood will be idle until Dec. 29-30 when it travels to Lexington, Va., for the Washington & Lee Tournament.