Crusaders Get Run Over by Golden Griffins, Fall 67-48

Monday, December 22, 2014

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Cullen Hamilton

The Holy Cross Crusader's men's basketball team (5-4) lost 67-48 on the road to (6-4) Canisius on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo. The Crusaders have now lost three of their last four games and have been blown out in all three losses.

See the five takeawas slideshow below

Holy Cross trailed 24-18 at the half and then 33-23 early in the second half before an 8-0 run got them to within two points at 33-31 with 13 minutes to play. However the Gold Griffins would rip off at huge 17-1 run over the next four minutes to increase their lead to 18 points. They would cruise the rest of the way to the 67-48 win

Holy Cross was led by guard Cullen Hamilton who was the only Crusader in double-figures with ten points, while Justin Burrell followed up with nine points and two assists.

Canisius was led by Zach Lewis who put on a heck of a show with 16 points, seven steals, five assists and three rebounds.

The Crusaders will look to bounce back on Tuesday, December 23, when they visit Pittsburgh. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

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

Related Slideshow: Five Takeaways from Holy Cross’s 67-48 Loss to Canisius

Here are five takeaways from the game.

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Cullen Hamilton

Cullen Hamilton led the Crusaders with ten points on four of eight shooting from the field in 24 minutes played. Hamilton was the only Holy Cross player in double figures.

However, that's the only thing that he did. Hamilton didn't shoot a free throw, didn't grab one rebound, even by accident, didn't have an assist, a steal or a block.

He did have one turnover in the game.

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Malcolm Miller

Miller has been in a good stretch for Holy Cross over the last couple of games, but this game will not be included. This was a bad game for him.

In 28 minutes played, Miller had only four points, shooting one for seven from the field, two rebounds, three blocks, three steals, one assists and a team leading seven turnovers.

Holy Cross is going through a tough stretch and if they want to get out of it, they need more scoring from their star player, Malcolm Miller

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Points off Turnovers

Eric Green and Malcolm Miller led the Crusaders with three steals and Holy Cross forced 16 turnovers in total, 10 of them on steals.

However, the Crusaders only got seven points out of those 16 turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Golden Griffins forced 19 turnovers, 12 of them steals, and scored 22 points off those turnovers down the other end.

Holy Cross has done a nice job all season of forcing turnovers however, the have to make it count down the other end.

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Basement level shooting %

On the road, Holy Cross shot 38 percent from the field from the field and 30 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

The Crusaders also only shot 54 percent from the free throw line, making only six of their 11 free throws in the game.

Credit the Canisius defense for part of those numbers, however Holy Cross has to do a better job of getting easier or better looks.

The Crusaders only had nine assists in the game.

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Panic time?

The Crusaders have now lost three of their last four games and all three losses have come by a substantial margin.

When looking at this Holy Cross roster and the veteran leadership that is on it, it does not feel like a team that should be getting blown out the way that they are.

Conference play is right around the corner and the Crusaders are expected to be contenders so no reason to press the panic button just yet however, the big red panic button is getting closer.

Holy Cross needs their senior leaders to step up and help get the team out of this rough patch of games they are in.

Holy Cross visits Pittsburgh on Tuesday, December 23.