slides: Holy Cross Comes Back to Upset Navy 87-80 in Overtime

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Joe Calabro, GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Malachi Alexander leads Holy Cross to a win

The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team (9-12, 4-6 PL) defeated (15-7, 6-3 PL) Navy 87-80 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center. The win snaps a two game losing streak for Holy Cross.

See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below

Holy Cross and Navy were deadlocked at three 73 in the overtime period when Malachi Alexander made a layup and a free throw to give Holy Cross a 76-73 lead with 2:33 to play.

Navy would get back within two, 78-76, with 1:08 to play before Alexander would knock down two free throws and extend the Crusaders lead to 80-76.

Holy Cross would rip off five straight points to take an 85-78 lead with 20 seconds to play in the overtime period and would go on to get the win.

Holy Cross and Navy split the season series.

2nd Half Rally

In the second half, Holy Cross would trail by as much as eight, 58-50, with 7:28 to play and would trail 67-62 with 1:33 to play in the game.

The Crusaders would close the half on a 7-2 run, tying it up at 69 on free throws from Anthony Thompson with 13 seconds left to play.

The Leaders

Malachi Alexander would lead Holy Cross with a career high 26 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the field and 12 of 13 from the free throw line while also grabbing eight rebounds.

Cullen Hamilton would follow up with 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field.

Next up

Holy Cross returns to action on Monday, February 1 when they visit American. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.

See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below

Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways From Holy Cross’ 87-80 Win Over Navy

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Robert Champion

Robert Champion contributed 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field while also grabbing 3 rebounds in 26 minutes of action.

Three of Holy Cross' five starters reached double figures in the game.

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Cullen Hamilton

Cullen Hamilton had by far his best game of the season, pouring in a season high 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field and 4 of 6 from the free throw line.

Hamilton reaches double figures for the first time in 5 games and reaches the 20 point mark for the first time since January 6, a win over Colgate.

Hamilton made 9 field goals in the game, that is more than he has made in Holy Cross' last 4 games combined.

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Points in the Paint

The Crusaders shot 49 % from the field in the game and got themselves to the free throw line 35 times.

That happened in part because Holy Cross was getting into the paint and were effective there, scoring 34 points.

Holy Cross shot 55% in the first half, 49% in the second half and 57% in the extra period.

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Malachi Alexander

Malachi Alexander led Holy Cross with a career high 26 points on 6 of 15 shooting from the field and 12 of 13 from the free throw line while also grabbing 8 rebounds.

This is the second time in four games that Alexander has led Holy Cross in scoring.

Alexander has averaged 11.4 points per game this season.

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Fighting back = Success

After the last game, one of the takeaways was that the Crusaders got down early but battled back and made it a game. They did not just quit. They ended up losing that, 71-54, to Loyola because they went cold from the field in the final five minutes but the fight was there.

In this game, Holy Cross got down by as much as 12 in the first half and trailed 67-62 with 1:33 to go before rallying and forcing overtime.

Holy Cross would go on to win in OT.