7 February, 2007
by Elliot Smilowitz
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1st |
2nd |
OT |
Final |
| Holy Cross (19-6, 10-0 Patriot) |
22 |
30 |
18 |
70 |
| Army (13-11, 3-6 Patriot) |
21 |
31 |
2 |
54 |
| Christl Arena – West Point, NY |
Boxscore |
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Yet again, Holy Cross suffered a scare on the road before pulling out a close victory. This time, the opponent was Army, who forced the Crusaders into overtime before falling 70-54. Holy Cross outscored the Black Knights 18-2 in the overtime period.
The game was one of spurts all the way through. In the first half, Holy Cross made a 10-0 run, but Army responded with 9 unanswered points of their own. Early in the second half, the Knights made an 11-0 run to take a 7-point lead, but the Crusaders stayed close, eventually forcing a tie at 49-all with 2 minutes remaining. The Patriot League’s top two scorers traded baskets in the final seconds of regulation, with Keith Simmons hitting a big shot to give Holy Cross the lead with 13 seconds left before Jarell Brown tied it at the buzzer.
Once the game reached overtime, Army played like they were already in the locker room. Holy Cross scored the first 12 points of the period, staking a huge lead and essentially ending the game. As for the head-to-head competition between Simmons and Brown, the Crusader senior scored 26 points while playing in all 45 of the game’s minutes, while the Army junior tallied 21. Simmons received support from Torey Thomas, who posted 14 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
The Crusaders have now gone to overtime in two of their last three road games; in the other, a three-pointer by Simmons with 25 seconds left was the winning shot. Holy Cross now plays its toughest road game in the league, heading to Bucknell with its perfect Patriot League record on the line. They do battle in Lewisburg Friday night. Army also hits the road toward Pennsylvania, facing Lehigh at Stabler Arena Saturday night.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
With 13 seconds remaining in regulation, Simmons knocked down a bucket to give Holy Cross a 52-50 lead. But with their backs to the wall, the Black Knights ran a play for Brown, who hit a runner as time expired to tie the game.
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| Key sign it was over |
Crusader center Tim Clifford hit a three-pointer to give Holy Cross a 7-point lead in overtime, and Pat Doherty followed that up with a three of his own. Before Army realized what hit it, the Knights were out of the game in OT.
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| Key performance |
Simmons, who broke the 1,500-point plateau in the game, led all scorers with 26 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and nabbed 2 steals. He also hit yet another key shot that nearly won the game at the end of regulation.
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| Key statistic |
The Crusaders outrebounded Army 37-26. This allowed Holy Cross to control the game despite turning the ball over 18 times.
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| Notes |
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Holy Cross was perfect in overtime, going 5-for-5 from the floor, including 2 three-pointers, and 6-for-6 from the line. In contrast, Army was 0-of-6 from the floor in the extra period, missing 5 three-point attempts.
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The Knights got an unexpected contribution from freshman guard Josh Miller, who gave them 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 threes, all career highs, before fouling out in 29 minutes of court time.
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Army managed to score 16 points on 8 offensive rebounds. Holy Cross grabbed 11 offensive boards, but got just 7 second-chance points.
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Holy Cross outscored Army 24-14 in the paint, led by Clifford’s 11 points and 6 blocks.
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