Holy Cross Visits Bucknell For Rd. 2 of Patriot League Tournament

Thursday, March 05, 2015

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Holy Cross takes on top seeded Bucknell

The Holy Cross Crusaders defeated the Loyola Greyhounds 62-45 in round one of the Patriot League Tournament at the Hart Center. The win sets up a matchup with the top seeded Bucknell Bison tonight at Sojka Pavilion. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Holy Cross vs Bucknell

The Crusaders visit the Bison in round two of the Patriot League tournament tonight at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion

Holy Cross head coach Milan Brown gave GoLocalWorcester two things that Holy Cross is going to have to do well in order to steal a win on the road.

"The first thing is we need to not give up easy baskets, Bucknell is very efficient offensively. They do a great job of taking care of the ball, they take quality shots and they don't beat themselves," Brown said of the of the upcoming challenge.

At the end of the day, basketball is about misses and makes.

"Not gonna be any mysteries, maybe a wrinkle here and there but we are gonna have to make shots," Holy Cross head coach Milan Brown said.

Holy Cross vs Bucknell this season

The Crusaders and Bison will meet for the third time this season after splitting the regular season series, each team winning on their home court.

February 8 - Sojka Pavilion - Bucknell Wins 70-57

Holy Cross led 27-25 at the half and 39-38 with 11 minutes to go before Bucknell went on a 12-4 run to take a 50-43 lead with seven minutes left.

The Crusaders did not get closer than six points the rest of the way.

Malcolm Miller led Holy Cross with 12 points in the game but the Crusaders only shot 30% from the field.

Milan Brown

January 10 - The Hart Center Jan. 10 - Holy Cross Wins 65-62

The Crusaders jumped out to a 24-9 lead with eight minutes to go in the half and led 32-23 at the half.

Bucknell came storming back in the second half and took a 51-47 lead with three minutes left.

Two Malachi Alexander free throws would tie the game at 54-54 and send it to overtime.

The Crusaders outscored Bucknell 11-8 in overtime to win the game 65-62.

The Bucknell Bison

The Bucknell Bison come in having only lost three home games all season, non of which came in conference play.

Bucknell is led by Chris Hass who averages 15 points per game but is coming off a game against American in which he only played 11 minutes and scored two points.

"Hass is one of the best players in our league," said Holy Cross head coach Milan Brown said of the the Bison leader.

Freshman Nana Foulland follows up Hass by pouring in ten points per game and puling down a team leading five rebounds per game. Foulland has reached double-figures in six straight games for the Bison.

Holy Cross visits Bucknell in the second round of the Patriot League tournament, tonight at 7 p.m. The winner will move on to face either Lafayette or Boston University in the next round.

Related Slideshow: Projected Holy Cross Starting Line Up 2014-2015

The Holy Cross men's basketball season is upon us. Here is the projected 2014-2015 starting line up for the Crusaders who are coached by Milan Brown and on the court will be led by Malcolm Miller.

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Guard- Justin Burrell

Justin Burrell is a 5'9" senior guard who last season played in 31 games for the Crusaders and started all of them. He averaged 8.9 points and 2.4 assists per game last season while playing tremendous defense.

Burrell is a quick player who handles the ball and can make open shots and can create off the dribble, Burrell will return to the starting line up this season for the Crusaders.

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Guard- Anthony Thompson

Sophomore Anthony Thompson started 21 of the 34 games last season for the Crusaders and averaged 9.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. The 5'10" Thompson can hit shots from beyond the arc, last season shooting 41% from three-point land.

Thompson is also a good defender and like Burrell, can pressure the ball, averaging just under one steal per game.

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Guard/Forward- Eric Green

Eric Green, a 6'4" Junior, can play both the guard and forward position giving Coach Brown some line up options, making the Crusaders more versatile. Green started 27 of the 34 games last season for the Crusaders.

Eric Green averaged just under eight points and four rebounds per game. He is also a great perimeter defender, last season he ranked fifth in the Patriot League in steals.

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Forward- Malcolm Miller

Senior Malcolm Miller is the leader of this Holy Cross team and returns for his final season after a great year last year. The 6'7" Miller averaged 11 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season earning preseason All-Patriot League team honors.

Miller is great offensively but is just as much of a force on the defensive end. Last season, he ranked second in the Patriot League in blocked shots and has 95 blocks in his career, eighth best all time at Holy Cross.

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Forward- Taylor Abt

Taylor Abt, a 6'8" senior, will add height and rebounding to the Holy Cross starting line up. Last season, Abt averaged 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and will look to improve on those numbers.

Abt will also help on the defensive end as last year he led the team in blocks four times and steals once.

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6th man- Cullen Hamilton

Cullen Hamilton is a 6'2" Junior who last season missed 16 games because of injury. In the 18 games that he played, he averaged eight points per game and shot 36% from beyond the arc.

Hamilton is a good scorer who can make plays off the dribble and will look to bounce back from last years injury plagued season.