EASTON, Pa. – Junior forward
Connor Niego scored a career-high 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Lafayette 82-64 at the Kirby Sports Center. The Crusaders fall to 2-14 on the season and 1-2 in the Patriot League with the loss, while the Leopards improve to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
Holy Cross made 44.0 percent of its shots from three-point range, but connected on only 39.3 percent of its field goal attempts overall. Lafayette was able to hit 51.0 percent of its shots from the floor and 47.8 percent of its attempts from beyond the three-point line.
The score was close early on, and the Crusaders held a 13-11 lead with 15:27 left in the first half. The Leopards scored the next five points to pull in front, and went on to increase the margin to 11 points (35-24) with 6:17 remaining before the break. Holy Cross came back to close out the half with a 15-7 run, and trailed by just three (42-39) heading into the locker room.
Lafayette was still up by just four (48-44) with 16:05 left to play, before going on a 16-3 run to take control of the game. The Crusaders would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way, before the Leopards eventually posted an 18-point victory.
Freshman forward
Joe Pridgen and freshman guard
Ryan Wade scored 12 points each, while junior forward
Matt Faw added 11 points and eight rebounds. Justin Jaworski and E.J. Stephens both scored 19 points for Lafayette.
Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 11, when it travels to Bucknell for a 2:00 p.m. game.
