WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior guard Joe Octave posted a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Maine 72-57 at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders fall to 2-6 overall, while the Black Bears improve to 5-4 on the year.
 
 INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
• Senior forward Louth-M Coulibaly finished the game with a career-high 13 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Bo Montgomery added 14 points and five assists.
• Holy Cross hit just 39.0 percent of its field goal attempts and 22.2 percent of its three-pointers on the night.
• Maine connected on 40.7 of its shots from the floor and 84.0 percent of it foul shots, while holding a 25-14 advantage in free throw attempts.
• Kellen Tynes led the Black Bears with 26 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Maine started the game hot, jumping out to a 19-6 advantage after the first seven minutes of play.
• The Crusaders responded with an 11-3 spurt to close the gap to five (22-17), and were still down by five (34-29) in the closing seconds of the first half.
• Jaden Clayton then converted a three-point play for the Black Bears to make the score 37-29 at the break.
• Maine opened the second half with a 7-2 run to build its lead back up to 13 points (44-31) with 14:49 remaining.
• Holy Cross refused to go away, and was able to trim the deficit to eight (55-47) with six minutes left to play.
• But the Black Bears scored the next five points to regain control and went on to win by 15.
 
UP NEXT:
• Holy Cross will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 2, when it travels to Central Connecticut for a 1 p.m. game.

BE PART OF THE ACTION:
• Tickets to see the Crusaders in action can be purchased online at GoHolyCross.com/tickets or by calling or texting 1-844-GOCROSS.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS:
Be sure to follow the Holy Cross men's basketball team — and all things Crusader Athletics — on social media!
Twitter - @HCrossMBB | @goholycross
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