17 February, 2007
by Elliot Smilowitz
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Holy Cross (20-8) |
32 |
32 |
64 |
| Hofstra (20-8) |
37 |
28 |
65 |
| Mack Sports Complex – Hempstead, NY |
Boxscore |
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In a game that was decided at the free throw line, Hofstra downed Holy Cross in the ESPNU BracketBuster 65-64. Hofstra’s Carlos Rivera hit 2 free throws to win the game, after Eric Meister of Holy Cross missed a pair of foul attempts with 18 seconds to go.
Hofstra’s three-guard attack was as good as advertised. Antoine Agudio and Rivera scored 19 each to lead the Pride, and Loren Stokes added 16. Keith Simmons scored 22 for the Crusaders and Torey Thomas added 16. Holy Cross’ post advantage was neutralized by foul trouble, as Tim Clifford fouled out with 6:45 remaining in the game. Clifford finished with 11 points and 5 boards in 29 minutes. His crunch-time replacement, the freshman Meister, had 4 points, 5 rebounds and a steal from the time of Clifford’s disqualification until the end of the game, but Meister missed all 4 of his free throw attempts in that span.
The game was tight all day, with 6 ties and 9 lead changes. Hofstra opened up a 9-point lead with 4:06 left in the first period on a Rivera three-ball, but Holy Cross went on an 8-1 run to close their deficit. Hofstra led most of the second half, but never pulled away and lost the lead with 2:54 left in the game on a Pat Doherty three-pointer.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
Meister tipped in a missed Thomas shot with 1:36 remaining to give the Crusaders a 64-63 lead. Strokes committed a charge to turn the ball over, but after running 32 seconds off the clock, Thomas turned the ball over. Hofstra missed a three-point attempt, and Meister was fouled after grabbing a rebound. He stepped to the line and missed 2 free throw attempts.
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| Key sign it was over |
Meister’s misses gave Hofstra a chance to win on the final shot. Rivera’s attempt with 1 second left missed, but he was fouled by Thomas. Rivera hit both free throws. Simmons attempted a two-pointer as time expired to win, but it was blocked by Rivera.
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| Key performance |
Stokes had 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added 4 rebounds and 5 assists. In addition to scoring, Stokes did the little things to help allow Agudio and Rivera to get open shots.
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| Key statistic |
The Crusaders were just 4-of-14 for three. Hofstra was 7-of-12 from the arc.
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| Notes |
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Holy Cross got 12 steals, with Thomas grabbing 6. Holy Cross outscored Hofstra 29-13 in points off turnovers.
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In likely a hint of what to expect in postseason games, Holy Cross shortened their bench, using just 2 bench players for more than 3 minutes. Simmons, Thomas and Alex Vander Baan all played 34 or more minutes.
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Even with Clifford’s foul trouble, Holy Cross outscored Hofstra 36-24 in the paint.
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The Crusaders host Colgate Wednesday night in their final home regular season game.
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