The Holy Cross men's basketball team starts the fourth season of the Dave Paulsen era at Atlantic-10 Conference opponent Rhode Island on Tuesday, Nov. 3 in the Ryan Center at 7:00 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (0-0, 0-0 PL): 

• The Crusaders are coming off a 69-66 defeat to eventual Patriot League Tournament Champion Lehigh in the 2026 Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Then junior John St. Germain III scored seven points with three steals in 16 minutes off the bench while then junior Declan Ryan played a career-high 30 minutes scoring six points with six boards.
• Holy Cross lost some key contributors to last season's team as four impact players who started in the Patriot League semifinal contest transferred to other institutions.
• The Crusaders have an all-time record of 71-35 (.670) in their opening game of the year. This year will mark the 59th time Holy Cross has opened the season away from home, with the Crusaders posting a 33-25 (.569) mark in the previous 58 contests. Over the last seven years, Holy Cross stands just 3-6 (.333) in season openers. During that time, Holy Cross has defeated Sacred Heart (69-64 in 2017-18; 93-81 in 2018-19) and Regis (98-51 in 2021-22) on opening day, while falling to Maryland (95-71 in 2019-20), Boston University (83-76 in 2020-21), Siena (75-68 in 2022-23; 73-71 in 2023-24), Wisconsin (85-61 in 2024-25 and Providence (89-79).
• Holy Cross opened the season ranked 359th in the 2027 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.

SCOUTING THE RAMS (0-0, 0-0 A10): 

• Rhode Island finished 2025-26 with a 16-16 overall mark and a 7-11 record in league play falling to Duquesne 67-61 in the A10 Championship Second Round.
• The Rams were selected to finish 12th in the Atlantic-10 Conference Preseason Poll with 104 points. Guard Jonah Hinton and wing Jahmere Tripp were named to the Preseason All-Conference Third Team.
• Hinton was the main downtown threat for the Rams in 2025-26 leading the team with 76 three point buckets while averaging 12.6 points per game with Tripp adding 12.0 points per contest.
• Transfer Matas Deniusas, the 2025-26 OVC Rookie of the Year will make his debut for the Rams.   Deniusas started all 33 games for UT Martin and averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest scoring double figure points 24 times en route to top rookie honors.
• The Rams opened the season ranked 132nd in the 2027 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.

LAST TIME THEY MET: 

• Holy Cross is 26-18 (.591) in the series against Rhode Island which began in 1909.
• In their last meeting on Nov. 8, 2024, the Rams earned a 91-77 win. Joe Nugent scored a game-high 27 points connecting on seven three-pointers with six boards in the setback for the Crusaders.
• Holy Cross last beat Rhode Island 51-50 on Jan. 2, 2005. The Rams have won six straight contests. 

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