WORCESTER, Mass. – Freshman forward
Joe Pridgen scored a career-high 32 points, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by UMass Boston 69-66 in overtime at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders fall to 1-9 on the season with the loss.
After making 61.5 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half, Holy Cross connected on just 25.0 percent of its shots from the floor in the second half and overtime. The Crusaders also shot 21.4 percent from three-point range and 57.7 percent from the free throw line, while committing 21 turnovers.
The score was tied at 14-14 with 11 minutes left in the first half, when Holy Cross went on a 19-3 run to claim a 33-17 advantage. The Crusaders were still up by 15 with three minutes left before the break, when the Beacons closed out the half with an 11-5 spurt to make the score 40-31 at the break.
UMass Boston continued to chip away at the lead early in the second half, eventually tying the score at 46-46 with 12:21 left in regulation. Neither team led by more than six points the rest of the way, before the game went to overtime tied at 59-59. The Beacons then hit three of five shots from the field in the extra session, including both of their three-point attempts, to pull out the win.
Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 14, when it travels to Canisius for a 2:00 p.m. game.
