With the Bison staring at a 46-27 deficit less than four minutes into the second half, it appeared the only thing a sizable Bucknell would have to cheer would be a Bison fan taking part in a free throw shooting competition during a timeout. However, a furious rally turned a yawner into a second-half thriller, as Holy Cross earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years.

Early on it looked like Bucknell would be the team opening up a sizable lead, as the visitors scored the next nine points after Simmons opened the scoring with a layup. John Griffin got the Bison on the board with a four-point play at the 18:08 mark of the first half, and a Justin Castleberry three put Holy Cross in a 9-2 hole. However, Simmons drove baseline and was hacked going up for a dunk, but the ball fell through and the Patriot League Player of the Year converted the bonus free throw. Thomas drove to the hoop and got a home-rim bounce, then equalized with a coast-to-coast layup from a tough angle with 14:10 remaining before halftime.

It was tied at 11 when Jason Vegotsky drilled a three to give the Bison a three-point edge — their final lead of the game, as it turned out. Eric Meister got his only bucket of the game on the following possession, and while Bucknell was missing good looks from the outside the next two trips down, Pat Doherty and Simmons each connected on triples to cap off a 17-2 Crusader run that put the home team in front 19-14.

While the Bison continued to miss decent looks from three in the corner, the Crusaders were attacking the basket, and when Doherty faked a three and drove in for a pull-up jumper, Holy Cross found itself with a double-digit lead at 29-18. Simmons would make it a 14-point game with a three-pointer at the 3:25 mark, and though Donald Brown got a nice reverse layup to go, Doherty beat the shot clock with a huge shot from outside the arc to give the Crusaders their biggest lead of the game to that point at 35-20. A Darren Mastrapaolo lay-in off a nice out-of-bounds play with 37 ticks left before halftime was the final scoring of the first period, with Holy Cross taking a 35-22 lead into intermission.

The halftime numbers told the story, as the Crusaders shot a robust 57.7 percent, while holding the Bison to just 26.9 percent — a defensive effort Ralph Willard would praise in no uncertain terms after the game. Holy Cross finished the half with seven blocks and four steals, as Simmons (13 points) and Thomas (eight points and four assists) led the way. Meanwhile, Chris McNaughton had just two points in nine foul-plagued minutes.

Out of the locker room, Tim Clifford sailed in for a putback to make it a 15-point game again, and after 1-for-2 performances at the line by both Brown and Simmons, Thomas made it 41-23 with a conventional three-point play. McNaughton made his presence felt with a baseline drive and bucket, and Thomas and Brown each added two free throws, but Alex Vander Baan sank a three-pointer with the shot clock running low to give Holy Cross its biggest lead of the game at 46-27.

What would become a 13-0 Bucknell run started innocently enough, when Griffin’s three-pointer from the left corner bounced high on the air and fell through, but when when Brown scored on a putback on the following possession, the Bison spurt clearly was under way. McNaughton hit both ends of a one-and-one and Mastrapaolo was perfect on two attempts at the line to get Bucknell back within 10. Following a tie-up that gave the ball back to the visitors, Castleberry made it single-digit game with a spinning shot in the paint. Thomas landed on the sideline after going up to grab a high pass, then McNaughton capped off the Bison run, banking home a bucket to make it 46-40 with 11:41 left.

Clifford stopped the bleeding with a post move for Holy Cross’s first bucket in 5:32, but McNaughton again made the most of a one-and-one to keep it a six-point game. Simmons hit a big three from the elbow, only to see Castleberry reciprocate at the other end, then stick a jumper on the next Bucknell possession to draw the visitors within four. Castleberry came up the steal at the other end and missed a fastbreak layup, but Brown followed his miss with an emphatic dunk that made it a 22-5 Bucknell run and a 51-49 game with 8:06 remaining.

Thomas and Griffin traded free throws, and the Holy Cross point guard went back to the line with his team ahead 53-51. However, the 75.6-percent free throw shooter missed both attempts, and Mastropaolo put back a Brown miss to knot the game at 53 all at the 5:52 mark. Abe Badmus picked off a Simmons pass and was fouled going the up for a layup at the other end, but the senior guard — himself a 76.5-percent shooter — followed Thomas’s lead and missed both free throws, squandering a chance to give his team the lead.

Simmons hit four straight free throws to put Holy Cross in front 57-53, and after misses by Brown and McNaughton, Thomas took advantage of his man going under a screen and blew the roof off the Hart Center with a huge three-pointer from right in front of Ralph Willard, making it 60-53 with 3:15 to go. However, Bucknell wouldn’t go quietly, as Badmus answered with a three from the left corner, and McNaughton’s two free throws canceled out a pair by Clifford. After a pair of free throws by Thomas, McNaughton misfired on a hook and Clifford snared the rebound, leading to two more free throws by Thomas, making it 66-58 with just 67 ticks remaining.

Griffin kept the Bison alive by gathering a loose ball and draining an off-balance three from by the visitors bench with 49.3 left, and after two more Simmons free throws, Thomas intercepted a Griffin pass and was fouled on a breakaway by McNaughton, possibly ending the Bucknell center’s career with a fifth foul. Thomas was perfect at the line, but Griffin stuck a pull-up three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 70-64 with 18.8 left. Thomas was fouled and converted both free throws, and though Badmus hit a tough leaner in the lane with 10.0 left, Holy Cross threw a home run pass on the inbounds, and dribbled out the clock, as the home crowd stormed the court to celebrate its return to the Big Dance.