WASHINGTON, D.C. – Junior Bo Montgomery scored a game-high 20 points as the Holy Cross men's basketball team rallied from an 11 point first half deficit to defeat Patriot League opponent American 74-66 Saturday afternoon in Bender Arena.

Montgomery was one of four Crusaders (9-18, 6-8 PL) to reach double figures. He added a team-high seven rebounds and a career-high five steals for good measure. Freshman Will Batchelder scored 18 points shooting 50% (7-of-14) from the field. Senior Gerrale Gates added 17 points and a career-high six steals while junior Joe Octave produced 14 markers.

The Eagles (15-10, 7-7 PL) were led by Colin Smalls' 16 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Matt Rogers manufactured 12 points, eight rebounds and a contest-best five assists.

With 8:53 left before halftime, Rogers connected on a turnaround jumper to improve the Eagle lead to 23-12. An 11-0 Crusader outburst led by three consecutive triples via Montgomery, Batchelder and junior Nolan Dorsey deadlocked the contest 23 all at the 6:30 mark. Batchelder converted a layup off a Gates feed to give the Crusaders a two point, 34-32 lead at halftime.

Trailing by four, 41-37 American embarked on a 9-3 mini run to regain the multiple possession edge, 55-48. Six consecutive points by the Crusaders pulled them within one, 55-54 with under seven minutes to play. A Matt Rogers dunk regained a two point lead, 59-57 for the hosts. From there, Holy Cross used a 13-1 scoring binge to hold a 10 point, 70-60 lead with 54 seconds left.

Batchelder scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half going 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the floor and 3-for-4 (75%) from deep. Holy Cross shot 46.6% (27-of-58) in the contest while American converted attempts at a 57.4% clip.

Holy Cross returns to the court on Wednesday, Feb. 15 when they play host to Boston University in a Turnpike Trophy contest at 7:00 p.m.
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• The 13 steals were a season-high for the Crusaders.
• Over the last four contests, Batchelder is averaging 19.3 points per game on 54.1% (20-of-37) three-point shooting.

 
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