WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior forward Gerrale Gates scored a career-high 27 points, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Lehigh 82-74 at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders fall to 2-6 overall and 2-6 in the Patriot League with the loss, while the Mountain Hawks improve to 3-5 on the season and 3-5 in the conference. 

Holy Cross hit 85.7 percent of its free throws on the afternoon, but was only able to connect on 38.2 percent of its shots from the floor. Lehigh made 53.6 percent of its field goal attempts and 72.7 percent of its fouls shots, while holding a 40-30 rebounding advantage.

The Mountain Hawks opened the game by jumping out to an early 13-2 lead over the first 5:34 of action. The Crusaders responded with an 8-2 run to narrow the gap, and were later down 22-16 with 9:49 to go before the break. Holy Cross then used an 11-2 spurt to claim its first lead of the day, and went on to take a 36-35 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The game stayed close early in the second half, and the Crusaders were up 49-48 with 12:38 remaining. The Mountain Hawks scored the next eight points to pull back in front, and went on to hold a 60-57 lead with nine minutes to play. But Lehigh then used a 5-0 run to go back in front by eight, and Holy Cross would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Senior guard Austin Butler finished the game with 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals. The Mountain Hawks were led by Marques Wilson with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Crusaders will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 30, when they play host to Boston University at 2:00 p.m.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• Gates set a new career high in scoring for the third consecutive game, and has now scored over 20 points in three straight games.
• Holy Cross' set a new season-high for free throw percentage, making 18 of 21 attempts.
• The Crusaders forced Lehigh to commit 16 turnovers on the day, while giving the ball only eight times.