THE BASICS:

• Score: Holy Cross 59, Southern 55
• Records: Holy Cross (15-19); Southern (22-13)
• Location: Dayton, Ohio
• Arena: UD Arena
• Date: March 16, 2016
• The Lead: Holy Cross junior guard Robert Champion (Charlotte, N.C.) scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting to help lead the Holy Cross men's basketball team to a 59-55 victory over Southern in NCAA Tournament First Four action on Wednesday evening at the University of Dayton Arena.
• With the win, Holy Cross advances to the first round of the NCAA Tournament and will take on Oregon, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, on Friday, March 18 at 7:27 p.m. in Spokane, Wash. For tickets to the game versus Oregon, CLICK HERE.
• The win for Holy Cross is its first NCAA Tournament victory since it defeated Wake Forest on March 13, 1953 in the East Region Semifinal. The Crusaders are now 8-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• In addition to Champion for Holy Cross, junior guard Anthony Thompson (Glenn Dale, Md.) scored 12 points, while classmate Malachi Alexander (Bowie, Md.) filled the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
• Southern was led by Adrian Rodgers and Shawn Prudhomme who scored 14 and 10 points, respectively.

FIRST HALF:

• Holy Cross jumped out with an early 6-2 lead (16:13) on the back of two layups by Champion. After a bucket by Southern ended the Crusader run, Thompson and Champion drilled back-to-back three-pointers to put Holy Cross ahead, 12-4 (14:10).
• The Crusaders doubled up the Jaguars, 6-3, over the next 5:46 to increase its lead to double-digits (18-7) at the 8:24-mark of the first half. The Holy Cross lead went back and forth between nine and 11 points over the next 4:05, but a three-pointer by Alexander gave the Crusaders their largest lead of the first half (25-13) with 3:51 on the clock.
• Southern, however, ended the first half on a 9-2 run, as Holy Cross held a 27-22 lead at intermission.
• The Crusaders shot 50.0 percent from the field (10-20) in the first half and limited the Jaguars to 36.4 percent from the floor (8-22). The 22 first-half points by Southern was its least amount scored through the first 20 minutes of play this season.

SECOND HALF:

• Southern opened the second half on a 7-1 spurt over the first 3:26 to gain its first lead of the game, 29-28 (16:34). The Crusaders, however, ended the rally on the next possession with a three-pointer by Thompson to go back ahead, 31-29 (16:00).
• After Southern tied the game at 31-31 (14:40), Holy Cross used a 7-2 spurt capped off by a three-pointer by freshman Matt Zignorski (Sparta, N.J.) to gain a 38-33 edge (12:37).
• The Jaguars, however, battled back and went on a 9-0 surge to gain a 42-38 lead with 8:42 left in the second half.
• Southern kept the four-point lead (44-40) with 6:32 on the clock, but a three-pointer by Champion on the next possession cut the deficit to 44-43 (6:03).
• Holy Cross gained the lead back (45-44) on a pair of made free throws by Thompson at the 4:20-mark of the second half, but the Jaguars answered with a jumper on the other end to grab a 46-45 edge (4:00).
• A three-pointer by freshman Karl Charles (Piscataway, N.J.) put Holy Cross ahead by two points (48-46) late in the second half, but Southern answered on the next possession with a trey of its own to go back on top by one (49-48) with 2:34 on the clock.
• Charles and Champion each drilled a pair of free throws on the next two possessions to give the Crusaders a three-point lead (52-49) with1:46 left in the half.
• On the next possession, however, Southern canned a three-pointer to tie the contest at 52-52 (1:24).
• With 57 ticks on the clock, Champion sank a clutch three-pointer off an assist by Alexander to give the Crusaders a three-point 55-52 lead.
• Holy Cross drilled all four of its attempts from the charity stripe to hang on for the 59-55 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Holy Cross shot 45.0 percent from the field (18-40) and canned 9-of-25 from behind the arc (36.0%), while Southern hit on 22-of-56 from the floor (39.3%) and drained 15.0 percent of its shots from downtown (3-20).
• The Crusaders sank 73.7 percent from the free-throw line (14-19) while the Jaguars connected on 8-of-11 from the charity stripe (72.7%).
• Southern held the edge in total rebounds (33-29) and points in the paint (26-14), while Holy Cross led in assists (14-10).

NEWS & NOTES:

• The win for Holy Cross is its first NCAA Tournament victory since it defeated Wake Forest on March 13, 1953 in the East Region Semifinal. The Crusaders are now 8-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Alexander recorded a career-high eight assists in the contest.

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.