THE BASICS:

•   Score:  American 71, Holy Cross 70 (OT)

•   Records: Holy Cross 10-17, 5-11 PL; American 9-18, 7-9 PL

•   Location: Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.

•   Date: February 21, 2016

•   The Lead: American's Delante Jones hit a layup with 2.3 seconds remaining in overtime, to lift the Eagles to a 71-70 victory over the Holy Cross men's basketball team at the Hart Center.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

•   Freshman forward Karl Charles led the Crusaders with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

•   Junior guard Robert Champion added 14 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Anthony Thompson finished with 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

•   Jesse Reed led the Eagles with 18 points and four assists.

•   American made 45.5 percent of its field goal attempts (20 of 44) on the day, while Holy Cross was only able to connect on 37.7 percent of its shots from the floor (20 of 53).

•   The Eagles also made 73.5 percent of their free throws (25 of 34), while the Crusaders were 26 of 41 at the charity stripe (63.4 percent).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

•   The game was close throughout a first half in which neither team led by more than six points.

•   Holy Cross was up 17-11 with four minutes left before the break, but American closed out the half on a 9-2 run to take the 20-19 advantage heading into the locker room.

•   American used a quick 10-2 spurt early in the second half to increase its lead to nine-points (30-21) with 16 minutes left in regulation.

•   The Eagles eventually took a 13-point advantage (39-26) with 13:14 left to play, before the Crusaders went on a 10-0 run to get back into the game.

•   Holy Cross later tied the score at 41-41, before American used a 10-1 spurt to pull back in front 51-42 with 6:41 left to play.

•   The Eagles were then up 56-52 with less than three minutes remaining, when Charles scored five straight points to give the Crusaders a 57-56 lead.

•   After American had pulled back in front 59-57, Thompson drained two free throws with 13.7 seconds left to tie the score and force overtime.

•   Neither team led by more than one point for the majority of the overtime, before American went up 67-64 on a basket by Jones with 1:02 left to play.

•   The Eagles were still up by three (69-66), before junior forward Malachi Alexander hit a pair of free throws with 23.0 seconds remaining.

•   Senior guard Eric Green then made a steal in the back court and scored to give Holy Cross a 70-69 lead with 17.1 seconds left to play.

•   But on the next possession, Jones was able to hit the game-winning shot for American.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

•   Prior to tip-off, five members of the Holy Cross basketball program who will be concluding their collegiate careers at the end of the 2015-2016 season were honored in a pregame ceremony.

•   Senior forward Isaiah Baker, senior guard Eric Green, senior guard Cullen Hamilton and senior forward Christopher Morgan were recognized, along with team manager Hayward Shine.

UP NEXT:

•   Holy Cross returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 24, when it travels to Loyola (Md.) for a 7:30 p.m. game.

KEEP CONNECTED:

•   To stay updated on the Holy Cross men's basketball team, follow the Crusaders on Twitter @HCrossMBB and on Facebook at HolyCrossBasketball.

•   You can also subscribe for email alerts for all news and information on the team by clicking here.