THE BASICS:

• Score: Holy Cross 76, NJIT 66
• Records: Holy Cross 5-3, NJIT 4-6
• Location: Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.
• Date: December 12, 2014
• The Lead: Senior guard Justin Burrell (Dumfries, Va.) totaled 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, to lead the Holy Cross men's basketball team to a 76-66 victory over the New Jersey Institute of Technology at the Hart Center. Burrell hit all 10 of his free throws on the night, in addition to knocking down two of three attempts from three-point range.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The game was tied at 3-3 early on, before NJIT scored the next seven points to claim the lead.
• The Highlanders would maintain a small lead for the remainder of the first half, before eventually taking a 30-28 advantage into the locker room.
• After NJIT increased its lead to three points (33-30) early in the second half, the Crusaders scored six straight points to claim their first lead of the night, 36-33 with 17:16 remaining.
• The score would stay close for several minutes, and the game was later tied at 48-48 with 9:49 on the clock.
• Holy Cross then went on a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to claim the lead for good.
• The Crusaders would stay in front by at least seven points the rest of the way, eventually claiming a 10-point victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Senior forward Malcolm Miller (Laytonsville, Md.) finished the game with 17 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots, while knocking down eight of eight attempts at the charity stripe.
• Sophomore forward Malachi Alexander (Bowie, Md.) also played well, recording 13 points and six rebounds.
• The Highlanders were led by Ky Howard, who scored a game-high 23 points.
• Holy Cross made just 37.3 percent of its field goal attempts on the night (19 of 51), but was able to knock down 83.8 percent of its free throws (31 of 37).
• NJIT shot 47.6 percent from the floor (20 of 42), but connected on just 56.3 percent of its foul shots (18 of 32).
• The Crusaders also forced 17 turnovers in the game, while holding a 33-30 rebounding advantage.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 21, when it travels to Canisius for a 2:00 p.m. game.

BE PART OF THE ACTION:

• To purchase single game and season tickets for the 2014-2015 Holy Cross men's basketball season, visit GoHolyCross.com/Tickets or call the ticket office at (508) 793-2573.