Crusaders Fall To UMass At The DCU Center

THE BASICS:

Score: UMass 68, Holy Cross 60
Records: Holy Cross 0-3; UMass 3-1
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.
Date: Nov. 20, 2016
The Lead: Sophomore Patrick Benzan posted career-highs of 12 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by UMass 68-60 at the DCU Center.

MAN OF THE MATCH PRESENTED BY THE UNITED STATES MARINES:

After the game, Benzan was selected as the United States Marines Man of the Match.
Benzan recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and four steals on the afternoon.
He connected on four of eight field goal attempts.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Senior forward Malachi Alexander and senior guard Anthony Thompson led the Crusaders with 14 points each.
The Crusaders made just 30.9 percent of their field goal attempts (17 of 55) and 29.6 percent of their three-pointers (eight of 27) on the afternoon.
The Minutemen were able to connect on 50.0 percent of their shots from the floor (23 of 46) and 30.8 percent from beyond the arc (eight of 26), in addition to holding a 38-28 rebounding advantage.
UMass was led by Donte Clark with 18 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

UMass opened the game with a 5-2 lead after the first 3:18 of play.
The Minutemen scored the next seven points, until senior center Matt Husek hit a three-pointer for the Crusaders with 13:38 left in the first half (12-5).
UMass extended its lead to as many as nine points with 5:45 left in the first half (25-16).
With the Crusaders trailing 27-21, senior guard Robert Champion and Alexander both netted three-pointers for the Crusaders tying the game at 27-27 with 1:59 left. The score remained tied at the end of the first half.
The Crusaders took their first lead of the game when Thompson hit a three-pointer with 17:52 left in the second half (31-29).
The score would remain close for the next several minutes with five lead changes, but then UMass went on a 10-0 run to take a 44-35 lead with 12:40 left in the second half.
With UMass leading 50-43, the Crusaders scored seven straight points to tie the game with 6:45 to go (50-50).
However, UMass responded by scoring the next 11 points, and eventually posted an eight-point victory (68-60).

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

Benzan tallied career highs with his 12 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
Today's attendance of 3,591 was the Crusaders' biggest home crowd since Feb. 12, 2011, when they took on Bucknell in front of 3,624 fans at the Hart Center.

UP NEXT:

Holy Cross returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22, with a 7:00 p.m. game at Harvard.

BE PART OF THE ACTION:

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