WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior forward Gerrale Gates scored 17 points on eight of 12 shooting from the field, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Navy 70-56 at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders fall to 2-11 overall and 0-1 in the Patriot League, while the Midshipmen improve to 8-4 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.

Holy Cross made just 43.5 percent of its field goal attempts and 33.3 percent of its three-pointers on the day, while committing 17 turnovers. Navy was able to connect on 43.6 percent of its shots from the floor and 42.9 percent of its attempts from three-point range, in addition to holding a 32-28 rebounding advantage.

The Midshipmen started the game hot, jumping out to a quick 11-2 lead after the first four minutes of action. Navy was later up 29-19 with five minutes left in the first half, before using a 13-1 run to take a 22-point advantage (42-20) into the locker room. 

The Midshipmen would lead by at least 15 points for the majority of the second half, and were up 66-46 with six minutes left to play. The Crusaders then went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to 12 points (68-56) with 1:40 remaining, but that was as close as Holy Cross would get as Navy went to post a 14-point victory.

Sophomore guard Judson Martindale finished the day with 12 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore forward Louth-M Coulibaly and sophomore guard Bo Montgomery scored seven points each. Greg Summers led the Midshipmen with 20 points.

The Crusaders return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 4, when they travel to Loyola (Md.) for a 7:00 p.m. game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Holy Cross falls to 17-15 all-time in Patriot League openers, and 18-14 in Patriot League home openers.
• The Crusaders hit 80.0 percent of their free throws (12 of 15), and marking the second time this season they have made at least 80 percent of their foul shots.