Crusaders Blown Out at Home, Fall 79-61 to Hartford

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Crusaders coach Milan Brown

The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team (4-3) lost 79-61 to the (6-4) University of Hartford Hawks on Tuesday, December 9 at the Hart Center.

The Crusaders have now lost two games in a row, both in blowout fashion.

See the five takeaways slideshow below

The Crusaders scored the opening basket of the second half to cut the Hartford lead to 35-31 but then the Hawks took off on an 11-2 run that would put the game away. Hartford would lead by at least 11 points, at all times, during the rest of the contest.

Hartford's Mark Nwakamma scored 29 points on 14 of 18 shooting from the field to lead all scorers and lead Hartford to victory.

The Hawks only had an impressive six turnovers in the game.

The Crusaders were led by junior Cullen Hamilton with 13 points. He knocked down, three of the four three-pointers he took in the game.

Next up, Holy Cross hosts NJIT on Friday, December 12 at 7 p.m.

For a further look at the Crusaders loss, see the five takeaways slideshow below.

Related Slideshow: Five Takeaways from the Crusaders 79-61 Loss to Hartford

The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team (4-3) lost 79-61 to the (6-4) University of Hartford Hawks on Tuesday, December 9 at the Hart Center. The Crusaders have now lost two games in a row, both in blowout fashion.

See the five takeaways slideshow below.

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Cullen Hamilton

One of the few positives in this game for Holy Cross was the play of Cullen Hamilton off the bench. Hamilton played 18 minutes and contributed a team high 13 points and a steal along with three rebounds in the game.

Hamilton also went three for four from beyond the arc.

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Mitchell Hahn

Earlier this week it was announced that Mitchell Hahn was awarded the Patriot League rookie of the week.

Against Hartford, Hahn had four points on one of four shooting in 21 minutes of play time. Hahn added two rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in the game along with one turnover.

A humbling night to say the least.

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Turnovers

The University of Hartford did a really nice job of holding onto the ball in this game. The Hawks only turned the ball over six times and it resulted in only six Holy Cross points down the other end.

Meanwhile, Holy Cross turned the ball over 14 times and the Hawks scored 17 points off of those turnovers.

Malcolm Miller led the Crusaders with four turnovers, Eric Green and Anthony Thompson had three each.

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Mark Nwakamma

Have to tip your hat to Hartford's Mark Nwakamma who netted career high 29 points tonight against the Crusaders.

Nwakamma went 14 of 18 from the field and also had two rebounds, two assists and steal in the game.

Holy Cross could not find a way to stop him in this one.

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Defense?

The University of Hartford came on the road to Holy Cross and shot 61 percent from the field and nearly 50 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

The Crusaders had trouble guarding inside as the Hawks scored 46 of their 79 points in the painted area. Holy Cross by comparison had 28 points in the paint.

Holy Cross needs to do a better job of defending, allowing a road team to shoot 61 percent from the floor is not what coach Brown was looking for.