Holy Cross Falls 53-49 to American, Drop to 0-2 in Patriot League
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Saturday, January 03, 2015
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Malachi Alexander
The Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team (5-7,0-2 PL) fell 53-49 to American (8-6,1-1 PL) on the road Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders, who were picked to finish third in the Patriot League this preseason, now fall to 0-2 in the conference and have lost four straight and six of their last seven games.
See the five takeaways slideshow below.
Holy Cross led 44-41 with 4:34 left in the game but American scored six straight points to take the lead back. Holy Cross next trailed by one and three points late in the game but failed to convert on back to back possessions. The Eagles went to the free throw line and knocked down four of their six free throws in the final 20 seconds to put the game away.
Holy Cross was led by Malachi Alexander who netted 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the game. Alexander was the only Holy Cross player in double-figures.
The American Eagles were led by Jesse Reed who netted a game high 23 points, giving the Eagles their first conference win of the season.
Next up, Holy Cross travels to Colgate on Wednesday, January 7 where they will look to snap their four game losing streak. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
For a further look at the Crusaders loss to American, see the five takeaways slideshow below.
Related Slideshow: Five Takeaways From the Crusaders 53-49 Loss to American
The Holy Cross Crusader's men's basketball team (5-7,0-2 PL) fell 53-49 to American (8-6,1-1 PL) on the road Saturday afternoon.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
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Malachi Alexander
Malachi Alexander was the only Holy Cross player in double figures, netting 13 points on five 5 of 8 shooting from the field in 23 minutes off the bench.
Alexander also pulled down 7 rebounds and had two steals to hep the Crusaders.
The only negative to Alexander's game was the three turnovers, which co-led the team.
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Nice job on the boards
Holy Cross outrebounded American 37-26 in the game including 15-3 on the offensive glass.
Cullen Hamilton co-led the Crusaders grabbing seven rebounds while Taylor Abt grabbed four offensive rebounds.
Holy Cross converted their second chances into 15 points, beating American, 15-4 in second chance points.
Solid job of rebounding by the Crusaders in the game.
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Justin Burrell
Point guard Justin Burrell had a bad day shooting against American, making only four of the 15 shots that he took. Burrell had eight points, five assists and two steals and also managed to pull down one rebound. Burrell also had two turnovers in the game.
The Crusaders as a team only had seven assists in the game.
Burrell didn't get to the free throw line at all, something that Holy Cross really needs him to do to help open up shots for everyone else.
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Malcolm Miller
After putting up 21 points against Boston University in the last game, Miller only had eight points on 3 of 10 shooting against American in 32 minutes played.
Miller only got himself to the free throw line once in the game and missed both free throws. The Crusaders as a team were 8 of 14 from the charity stripe for a free throw percentage of 57.
Miller has been inconsistent so far this season, only leading the Crusaders in scoring three times to this point.
Holy Cross is struggling and needs Miller to score, but Miller also needs help.
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Came down to free throws
When looking at the stats for this game. You might wonder how Holy Cross lost.
They won the second chance points 15-4, rebounding 37-26, bench points 17-2, points in the paint 26-20, and fast break points 6-0. The two teams tied the points off turnovers at 13.
The difference once again can be found in the free throws. Holy Cross shot 14 free throws and made eight while American shot 33 free throws and made 21. While neither of those two percentages are really that great, American made up for some of the above battles they lost by making 13 more free throws then Holy Cross.
It all comes down to the free throws.
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