THE BASICS:

• Score: Navy 84, Holy Cross 70
• Records: Holy Cross 11-15, 6-10 PL; Navy 11-17, 7-9 PL
• Location: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
• Date: February 22, 2015
• The Lead: Junior guard Cullen Hamilton (Washington, D.C.) totaled a season-high 18 points, five rebounds and two assists, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Navy 84-70 at Alumni Hall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Sophomore guard Robert Champion (Charlotte, N.C.) finished the game with a career-high 15 points and six rebounds, while hitting six of nine field goal attempts.
• Senior forward Malcolm Miller (Laytonsville, Md.) added 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
• Sophomore center Matt Husek (Stewartsville, N.J.) scored a career-high 10 points.
• The Midshipmen were led by Brandon Venturini with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists.
• Navy hit 52.0 percent of its field goal attempts (26 of 50) and 81.8 percent of its free throws (27 of 33) on the day.
• The Crusaders were only able to make 40.7 percent of their shots from the floor (22 of 54) and 69.2 percent at the charity stripe (18 of 26).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Navy started the game hot, hitting its first five shots while jumping out to an early 12-6 advantage.
• The Midshipmen would hold onto the lead for the next several minutes, and were still up by five (27-22) with 4:54 remaining before the break.
• Navy then scored the next seven points to extend its lead to double digits, and went on to take a 40-27 lead into the locker room.
• Holy Cross closed to within nine points (46-37) with 16:49 left in regulation following a three-pointer by Hamilton, before the Midshipmen used a 9-1 run to take their largest lead of the game (55-38) with 14:33 remaining.
• The Crusaders refused to go away quietly, responding with an 11-2 spurt to close the margin to single digits (57-49) with 11:50 to go.
• But Holy Cross was never able to get any closer than six points down the stretch, and Navy made five of six free throws in the last four minutes to pull away for the win.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when it plays host to Loyola (Md.) at 7:05 p.m.

BE PART OF THE ACTION:

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