Late Rally Falls Short, Holy Cross Falls 69-64 to Lehigh

Sunday, January 18, 2015

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Mitchell Hahn

The Holy Cross Crusaders (6-10,1-5 PL) fell 69-64 to (8-9, 2-4 PL) Lehigh on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania. This is the Crusaders second consecutive loss and their tenth in the last 13 games. Holy Cross started the season 3-0.

See the five takeaways slideshow below.

Lehigh led 15-11 with 15 minutes to go in the first half before going on a nine to nothing run to give them their first double-digit lead of the game at 24-11. The Mountain Hawks would take a 44-28 lead into the locker room and would lead by as much as 20 points in the second half.

The Crusaders made a furious second half rally, playing some great defense and making some big shots. The Crusaders held Lehigh to just four points over a span of just under 11 minutes while they cut their deficit to eight. Holy Cross would get as close as four points in the final minute some the Mountain Hawks knocked down their free throws and sealed the win.

Holy Cross was led by Mitchell Hahn who netted 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Teammates Justin Burrell and Malachi Alexander each finished with 11 points.

Lehigh was led by Tim Kempton who got himself a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Holy Cross returns to action on Wednesday, January 21 when they Lafayette. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Click here for tickets.

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

Related Slideshow: Five Takeaways From Holy Cross’s 69-64 Loss to Lehigh

The Holy Cross Crusaders (6-10,1-5 PL) fell 69-64 to (8-9, 2-4 PL) Lehigh on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

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Justin Burrell

Justin Burrell was prett solid at the point guard position for Holy Cross, netting 11 points and dishing out seven assists. The seven assists marks his second highest assist total in a game this season.

Burrell's 11 points came on 3-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. This is the second time in three games that Burrell has found himself in double-figures.

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Mitchell Hahn

In the last three games, Mitchell Hahn has seen a significant increase in play time and he is making it count.

Against Lehigh, Hahn netted 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field, including 3-of-11 from three-point land in 27 minutes of play time off the bench.

This marks the second straight game in which Hahn has gotten himself into double-figures and also the second straight game in which he has led the team in scoring.

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Malcolm Miller

Another disappointing game out of Malcolm Miller against Lehigh. Miller played 28 minutes and netted eight points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field.

Miller didn't get himself to the free throw line and did not have an assist in the game.

Miller did do a couple of good things in the game, he grabbed 11 rebounds, had one block and three steals.

However, Holy Cross needs him to score on a consistent basis and he has not done that really all season.

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36%

After a brief visit to the above 40% from the field club, the Crusaders went back down a level and shot 36% from the field against Lehigh.

Cullen Hamilton went 0-for-5 from the field and had zero points in eight minutes.

Holy Cross shot 31% in the first half and 40% in the second half, only notching 20 points in the paint. The Crusaders shot 25% from three-point land and 73% from the free throw line.

Holy Cross attempted 35 three-pointers in the game, 15 in the first half and 20 in the second half and made nine of them.

It's tough to win games shooting 36% and it shows in the Crusaders record.

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Showing signs

Holy Cross trailed by as much as 20 points in the second half before they finally decided to play some defense.

The Crusaders held Lehigh to only four points over a span of just under 11 minutes in the second half and during that time cut thier 20 point deficit to eight points. They would eventually get as close as four before Lehigh would seal the game.

As exciting as this rally was, it has to be frustrating at the same time. Where is this type of play on a more consistent basis?