WORCESTER, Mass. – Freshman forward
Joe Pridgen scored a game-high 25 points, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Lafayette 72-62 at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders fall to to 3-24 on the season and 2-12 in the Patriot League with the loss, while the Leopards improve to 16-9 overall and 8-6 in the conference.
Holy Cross made 72.2 percent of its free throws, but was only able to connect on 39.7 percent of its field goal attempts and 14.3 percent of its three-pointers. Lafayette hit 47.5 percent of its shots from the floor while holding a 43-28 rebounding advantage.
The game was close early on, with the score tied at 15-15 after the first nine minutes of action. The Leopards scored the next six points to pull in front and went on to take a 10-point lead (31-21) with 2:58 left before the break. The Crusaders came back to close out the half with a 9-4 run, and trailed by just five (35-30) heading into the locker room.
Lafayette was still up by six (39-33) with 18 minutes left in regulation, before using a 7-2 spurt to go back up by double digits. Holy Cross would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way, as the Leopards went on to post a 10-point victory.
Junior forward
Matt Faw finished the day with 19 points and eight rebounds, while junior forward
Connor Niego added 11 points and five boards. E.J. Stephens led Lafayette with 18 points.
Holy Cross returns to action on Monday, Feb. 17, when it plays host to Bucknell at 7:00 p.m.
