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Gamecenter: Holy Cross 74, Lafayette 52

4 February, 2007

by

1st 2nd Final
Lafayette (8-15, 2-6 Patriot) 24 28 52
Holy Cross (18-6, 9-0 Patriot) 39 35 74
Hart Center – Worcester, MA Boxscore
Holy Cross ran their home record to 10-0, destroying Lafayette 74-52. Torey Thomas scored 19 points to lead the Crusaders.

Holy Cross came out today firing and taking full advantage of a weak Lafayette defense. During the first 4 minutes of the game, Holy Cross ran off to a 12-5 lead and kept that lead throughout. During this first half dominance, every member of the Crusaders contributed.

Sophomore Greg McCarthy, who is usually the ninth guy of the bench, scored 9 points in the first half of the game tonight, and 11 overall. When Tim Clifford came out of the game with 16 minutes left in the half, McCarthy picked up all the slack. The only bright point for Lafayette was the great offensive play of Bilal Abdullah, who had 9 points in the half, and 6 of Lafayette’s first 12 points. At the end of the half Holy Cross led 39-24.

The second half started out as a back and forth battle between the two teams, but Lafayette could only last so long against the stronger Holy Cross. Seniors Thomas and Keith Simmons came alive in the second half and completely took over. They combined for 36 points on the night and shot 12-of-23 from the field.

With 11:41 left in the game, Holy Cross was leading 53-30, and the Crusaders never looked back. Lafayette’s Jesper Anderson scored 10 points in the second half to try and bring his team back, but Holy Cross never allowed the game to come out of their grips. All of the starters were pulled off the court with less than 3 minutes to go.

 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence With 3:39 left in the first half, Holy Cross capped off a 14-5 run when Simmons grabbed a missed fast break lay-up and finished with a strong two-handed dunk. This made the lead 33-17 and essentially put the game out of reach.
Key sign it was over With less than 7 minutes left in the game, Holy Cross took out most of their starters and let the bench get some playing time. Lafayette then went on a 11-1 run to start to crack into the lead making the score 65-47. The starters then came back into the game and Simmons scored an easy basket in the lane and was fouled during the process, stopping the only meaningful run Lafayette had in the second half.
Key performance Greg McCarthy was the boost the Crusaders needed in the first half. By the end of the game he had 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks. He contributed a huge amount off the bench tonight.
Key statistic At the end of the first half, Holy Cross had 8 steals and 3 blocks, while Lafayette had 0 in both categories. Due to this Holy Cross had 15 first-half points off turnovers and Lafayette only had 2.
 
Notes
Second chance points Holy Cross13, Lafayette 4.
Points in the paint: Holy Cross 43, Lafayette 10.
Holy Cross finished the game with 15 steals, leading to 21 Leopard turnovers. Thomas, Pat Doherty and Eric Meister had 3 steals apiece.
Holy Cross outrebounded Lafayette 32-17.

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