25 November, 2006
by Ryan Minihane
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| William & Mary (1-2) |
26 |
31 |
57 |
| Holy Cross (5-0) |
34 |
32 |
66 |
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From the start of the game Holy Cross led, and they never trailed all day. The game was sparked with a quick 8-2 run with 5 of the points being scored by Keith Simmons. Simmons did not dominate as he usually does offensively in the first half, but instead stepped up his game other side of the ball. In the first half alone Simmons had 4 steals.
There was no go-to scorer for William & Mary. Corey Cofield played well in the first half, scoring 6 points and pulling down 3 rebounds. Although Holy Cross led by only 8 points at the half, they dominated the first period by shooting 52.0 percent from the floor while holding their opponents to 37.5 percent shooting.
The second half started out much better for William & Mary, who went on a 9-2 run to start the half. This was capped by a great fast break lay-up for Nathan Mann which cut the Holy Cross lead to only 1. But the continued turnovers and the strong defensive play by Simmons was too much for William & Mary to handle. After the score was tied at 44, Holy Cross went on an 11-0 run to seal their victory.
There was one last ditch effort by Laimis Kisielius for William & Mary when he drove to the paint and finished with a one-handed dunk to bring the lead to 9. On the following possession Torey Thomas ran up the floor quickly after getting the inbound pass and scored on a fast break lay-up. When he was fouled and converted on his one free-throw attempt the, lead became 12 points and Holy Cross never looked back.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
With 10:20 left in the game William & Mary’s Adam Payton hit a three-pointer to tie the game. On the next two possessions Holy Cross’ Pat Doherty scored four unanswered points in the paint, one basket being a fast break lay-up. This sparked what would be an 11-0 Holy Cross run.
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| Key sign it was over |
With 53 seconds left in the game, freshman Danny Sumner was at the free-throw line trying to cut into what was then an 8-point lead. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, which was rebounded by Tim Clifford. Clifford was fouled immediately and hit both of his free throws.
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| Key performance |
Keith Simmons usually pours in the points. This game, he also stepped up on defense. Simmons had 7 steals, 2 blocks, and 8 rebounds to go with his 16 points.
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| Key statistic |
Holy Cross had 12 steals compared to 4 from William & Mary. Additionally, Holy Cross had 19 points from their bench, while their opponents only had 8.
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| Notes |
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Holy Cross never trailed throughout the entire game, but did blow a 13-point lead when the game was tied 44-44.
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Torey Thomas who has struggled from the free-throw line went 5-for-5 today.
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Offensive Rebounds : Holy Cross – 17; William & Mary – 10
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Holy Cross took 9 more free-throws then their opponents, and hit 9 more.
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The Crusaders begin a 5-game road trip Monday night at Syracuse. Holy Cross travels to yale, Dayton, Duke and Providence before their next home game Dec. 21.
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