WORCESTER, Mass. – Four players reached double figure points including junior forward
Declan Ryan as the Holy Cross men's basketball team was victorious in their Patriot League opener earning a 65-58 win against Bucknell on New Years Eve in the Hart Center Arena.
Ryan matched a career-high with a team-best tying 14 points going 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from the field with five rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench for the Crusaders (6-8, 1-0 PL). Classmate, junior guard/forward
Gabe Warren matched Ryan's output with 14 points corralling five rebounds establishing a new career-high with four assists. Sophomore guard
Tyler Boston (13 points) and junior guard
John St. Germain III (10 points) were key in the victory as well.
For Bucknell (3-11, 0-1 PL), Aleksander Pachucki dropped a game-high 17 points going 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from deep in 15 minutes off the bench
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Holy Cross used a 9-0 run to double up the Bison 14-7. Boston started the run kissing a floater high off the glass, Ryan had a pair of post scores and Boston concluded the binge knocking down a trio of freebies at the line with 14:06 left in the half. Bucknell came within one, 16-15, but St. Germain III converted a hoop and harm making it 19-16.
- A Bucknell three-ball put them down one, 19-18. Another three-pointer kept them within one possession, 23-21, however the Crusaders built a double-digit edge thanks to a 14-6 half ending run capped off by a St. Germain III layup as the team led 37-27 at the intermission.
- The Bison scored six straight points to drop the deficit to two scores at 37-33 with 17:04 left. Their run expanded to 17-4 as a take through the paint put them ahead 44-41 after the under 12 media timeout.
- From there, the Crusaders countered outscoring their opponents 17-5 to build a 58-49 advantage with 3:22 left. Warren had a tough and1 through traffic and he found junior guard DeAndre Williams who made a backdoor baseline cut for the nine point lead. Bucknell made the final moments of the game interesting canning a three with 26 seconds left, however the Crusaders made their free throws to earn the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Holy Cross has won three of their last four Patriot League openers.
- The Crusaders shot 62.5% (15-for-24) from the field in the first half, but only 31.8 percent (7-for-22) in the second half.
- The 20 free throw conversions for the Crusaders was a season-high.
- This was the sixth straight game where the Crusaders had fewer than 12 turnovers.
- Holy Cross won the battle in the paint outscoring Bucknell (42-to-28) and outrebounding them (34-to-30).
- St. Germain III matched his season-high with 10 points and was a year-best 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) at the line.
POSTGAME THOUGHTS:
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