WORCESTER, Mass. – Four different players scored in double figures, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Colgate 73-64 at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders fall to 3-20 on the season and 2-8 in the Patriot League with the loss, while the Raiders improve to 17-6 overall and 8-2 in the conference.
Junior forward
Connor Niego led Holy Cross with 16 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard
Austin Butler finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Junior forward
Matt Faw added 11 points, six rebounds and three steals, and freshman forward
Joe Pridgen had 10 points and five rebounds. Colgate was led by Will Rayman with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
The Crusaders started the game hot, jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead after less than four minutes of play. The Raiders scored the next five points to close the gap, and later took a 30-27 lead with five minutes remaining before the break. But Holy Cross came back to close out the half with a 12-2 run to take a 39-32 advantage into the locker room.
The score stayed close early in the second half, and the Crusaders led 54-48 with 11 minutes left to play. Colgate scored the next eight points to regain the lead, and went on to hold a 62-59 advantage with 5:47 remaining. The Raiders then used a 5-1 run to go in front by seven, and Holy Cross would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Crusaders made 42.2 percent of their field goal attempts and 33.3 percent of their three-pointers on the afternoon. Colgate connected on 41.0 percent of its shots from the floor and 37.0 percent of its attempts from three-point range, while holding an 18-5 edge in free throw attempts.
Holy Cross returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 5, when it plays host to Loyola (Md.) at 7:00 p.m.
