BALTIMORE, Md. – Freshman forward
Joe Pridgen scored a team-high 26 points, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Loyola (Md.) 80-70 at Reitz Arena. The Crusaders fall to 1-13 on the season and 0-1 in the Patriot League with the loss, while the Greyhounds improve to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
Holy Cross hit a season-high 92.9 percent of its free throws on the night, but made just 41.4 percent of its shots from the floor. Loyola was able to connect on 54.7 percent of its field goal attempts and 68.0 percent of its foul shots.
The Greyhounds opened the game with an early 7-4 lead, before the Crusaders scored 14 straight points to go in front by 11 (18-7) with 12 minutes left in the first half. Holy Cross was still up by seven (33-26) with 3:54 remaining before the break, but Loyola closed out the half with a 12-6 run to trim the margin to one-point (39-38) heading into the locker room.
Neither team led by more than four points for the first 10 minutes of the second half, and the Greyhounds were up by two (60-58) with 9:06 left to play. Loyola scored the next five points to go up by seven (65-58), before the Crusaders closed the gap to four (67-63) with 5:41 remaining. But the Greyhounds then used a 10-2 run to put the game away, eventually posting a 10-point victory.
Freshman guard
Drew Lowder totaled 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, while junior forward
Connor Niego posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Kostecka led Loyola with 37 points.
Holy Cross returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 5, when it plays host to Navy at 12:00 p.m.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Niego set a career high with his 11 rebounds, while recording his first career double-double.
• Pridgen has now scored at least 20 points in a game four times this season.
