ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Junior guard Joe Octave totaled 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, as the Holy Cross men's basketball team posted a 74-63 victory over Navy at Alumni Hall. The Crusaders improve to 5-10 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League with the win, while the Midshipmen fall to 8-6 on the year and 1-1 in the conference.

Freshman guard Will Batchelder finished the day with 17 points and two rebounds, while junior guard Bo Montgomery added 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior forward Gerrale Gates posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and junior guard Nolan Dorsey tallied 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. Daniel Deaver led Navy with 19 points and seven rebounds.

The game was close early on, and the score was tied at 14-14 after the first nine minutes of action. Holy Cross then scored 13 straight points over the next four minutes, including eight points from Batchelder, to build a 27-14 advantage. The Crusaders would lead by as many as 15 (32-17), before the Midshipmen finished the half with 13-2 spurt to close the margin to four (34-30) heading into the locker room.

Holy Cross held onto a small lead early in the second half, before increasing its edge back to 11 points (54-43) with 11 minutes left to play. Navy scored the next six points to close to within five (54-49), before a 7-0 run put the Crusaders up by 12 (61-49) with 5:16 remaining. Holy Cross would lead by at least seven points the rest of the way, and hit six of seven free throw attempts in the final three minutes to ice the victory.

The Crusaders made 51.9 percent of their field goal attempts and 46.4 percent of their three-pointers on the day, while recording 17 assists on 27 made baskets. The Midshipmen held a 43-32 rebounding advantage, but made just 32.8 percent of their shots from the floor.

Holy Cross returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 5, when it plays host to American at 7:00 p.m.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• All five of the Crusaders' starters scored in double-figures, marking the second time this season Holy Cross had five double-digit scorers.
• The Crusaders hit 13 of 28 shots from three-point range, good for their most made three-pointers against a Patriot League opponent since Jan. 22, 2020 (14 of 25 in a 96-95 overtime win over Lehigh).
• Holy Cross is off to its first 2-0 start in Patriot League play since the 2011-2012 season.
• The Crusaders have won nine straight games when hitting at least 50 percent of their field goal attempts.

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