WEST POINT, N.Y. – Senior forward Gerrale Gates totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Holy Cross men's basketball team to a 69-65 victory over Army West Point at Christl Arena. The Crusaders improve to 6-15 overall and 4-5 in the Patriot League with the win, while the Black Knights fall to 13-11 on the season and 7-5 in the conference.

Holy Cross hit just 38.5 percent of its field goal attempts on the day, but made 42.1 percent of its three-pointers and 80.8 percent of its foul shots. Army connected on 40.0 percent of its shots overall, but hit only 26.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc and 60.9 percent of its shots at the charity stripe.

The game was close throughout a first half which featured two ties and nine lead changes. The Crusaders led 9-4 early on, before the Black Knights scored six straight points to pull ahead. Army would later go up by nine (34-25) with 3:24 left in the half, but Holy Cross responded with a 6-0 run to make the score 34-31 at the break.

The Black Knights opened the second half with six straight points to go back up by nine (40-31), and still led by seven (49-42) with 12:40 remaining. The Crusaders then went on a 13-5 run to claim the lead, with sophomore guard Bo Montgomery scoring five points during that spurt. Army had pulled back in front by one (62-61) with less than two minutes to play, before freshman guard Kyrell Luc drained a pair of free throws to give Holy Cross the lead for good. Gates would add a key jump shot to put the Crusaders up by three (65-62), then Luc made four straight free throws in the final 35 seconds to clinch the victory.

Luc finished the game with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Montgomery added 12 points and three boards. The Black Knights were led by Chris Mann and Jalen Rucker with 11 points each.

Holy Cross will return to action on Monday, Feb. 7, when it travels to Colgate for a 6:00 p.m. game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Gates' double-double was his fifth in the last seven games and his ninth overall this season.
• The Crusaders handed Army just its second home loss of the season, with the Black Knights falling to 9-2 at Christl Arena.
• Holy Cross had just nine turnovers on the day, marking its fifth game this year with single digit turnovers.
• The Crusaders are now 17 of 40 from three-point range (42.5 percent) over their last three games.