ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Senior forward Gerrale Gates totaled 24 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots to lead the Holy Cross men's basketball team to a 55-50 victory over Navy at Alumni Hall. The Crusaders improve to 9-18 overall and 7-8 in the Patriot League with the win, while the Midshipmen fall to 18-9 on the year and 11-5 in the conference.

Holy Cross turned in one of its top defensive performances of the season, holding Navy to 26.6 percent shooting from the field and 15.4 percent shooting from three-point range. The Crusaders were able to connect on 38.9 percent of their shots from the floor and 40.0 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.

The game was close throughout a first half which included six ties and five lead changes. The Midshipmen led 11-8 early on, before Holy Cross scored nine straight points to take a 17-11 advantage. The Crusaders were later up 24-19, when Navy ran off seven consecutive points to pull back in front (26-24). Holy Cross responded by scoring the final five points of the half, to take a 29-26 lead into the locker room.

After the Midshipmen scored the first two points of the second half, the Crusaders used a 16-4 spurt to take their biggest lead of the day (45-30 with 11:19 remaining). Navy refused to go away, coming back with an 18-2 run to go in front by one (48-47) with 2:03 left to play. 

Sophomore guard Nolan Dorsey hit a three-pointer on Holy Cross' next possession to make the score 50-48, then after Tyler Nelson scored for Navy, Gates drained a baseline jump shot to put the Crusaders up 52-50 with 50.1 seconds on the clock. Holy Cross then forced the Midshipmen to miss all five of their field goal attempts in the last minute, while hitting three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds to pull out the win.

Sophomore guard Bo Montgomery finished the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Navy was led by Nelson with 15 points and four boards.

The Crusaders will return to action on Monday, Feb. 21, when they travel to Lafayette for a 7:00 p.m. game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Holy Cross has now won four of its last five road games.
• Gates posted his 11th double-double of the season and the 15th of his career as a Crusader.
• Montgomery set a new career high for rebounds while recording his first career double-double.
• Freshman guard Kyrell Luc finished the day with a career-best seven assists.