Loyola vs. Holy Cross - Patriot League Tournament Rd. 1

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Holy Cross hosts Loyola in first round of Patriot League tournament.

The Holy Cross Crusaders are set to host the Loyola Greyhounds in the first round of the Patriot League tournament at the Hart Center on Tuesday, March 3. Tip-off for the game is set for 7 p.m.

Click here for tickets.

The Crusaders enter the tournament as the #8 seed, finishing conference play with a record of 8-10 and 13-15 overall while Loyola enters as the nine seed with a conference play record of 7-11 and 11-18 overall.

The winner of this first round matchup will face the top seeded Bucknell Bison on Thursday, March 5.

Holy Cross last time out.

The Crusaders went on the road and knocked off the Boston University Terriers 77-70 in the last game of the regular season on Saturday, February 28 behind a 30 point performance from senior Malcolm Miller.

Holy Cross held a 31-29 lead at the half and extended it early in the second half, using a 10-3 run to go up 41-32 in the game.

BU would get as close as two points, 53-51, but Miller and the Crusaders held them off for the win.

Holy Cross enters the tournament on a two game winning streak.

"Obviously we talked about building momentum going into the tournament. The BU win was big, especially cause it was a road game and we know if we want to get where we want to go, we will need to do it on the road," Holy Cross head coach Milan Brown said.

Holy Cross vs Loyola - regular season

The Crusaders and Greyhounds played two times in the regular season, their last meeting coming just a week ago.

"We are definitely going to look back at those games, see if there are any tendencies that we can exploit and any thing we can sure up that they can exploit," Brown said of the two regular season meetings.

Feb. 25 - Holy Cross Wins 63-60 - The Hart Center

The Crusaders won a very close game after Malcolm Miller knocked down four clutch free throws and grabbed a huge defensive rebound with only a couple of seconds left to get Holy Cross the win.

In the game, Holy Cross lost the rebounding battle by one, 29-28 and turned the ball over 14 times resulting in 18 Loyola points.

Holy Cross had nine steals and shot 51% from the field on home court.

Jan. 29. Loyola Wins 64-54 - Reitz Arena

With the game tied at 18, Loyola went on a 9-0 run to end the half with a 26-18 lead. Holy Cross got to within three points, 54-51, with a couple of minutes left but could not get over the hump.

Miller led the Crusaders with 23 points but Holy Cross got out rebounded 43-25 in the game.

On the positive side, Holy Cross forced 18 turnovers and blocked six shots.

The Loyola Greyhounds

Loyola is led by Tyler Hubbard, who averages 11 points per game for the Greyhounds. Hubbard only had five points in Loyola's regular season finale against Navy, but prior to that he reached double figures in five straight games.

Against Holy Cross this season, Hubbard has netted 13 and 17 points respectively.

Eric Laster follows up Hubbard averaging 10.8 points per game for the Greyhounds.

Laster has poured in 11 and six points respectively against Holy Cross this season.

Malcolm Miller

Holy Cross

The Crusaders have been led all season by Malcolm Miller who has averaged 14 points per game throughout the regular season. Miller is coming off a game against BU in which he poured in 30 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Miller has reached double figures in 12 straight games for Holy Cross and against Loyola this season has netted 23 and 17 points respectively.

"Malcolm's been huge for us, he's made a concerted effort to be one of the best players in our league. I think a light bulb has gone off in his head as far as understanding who he is as a player and what he needs to do," coach Milan Brown said about his leading scorer.

Justin Burrell follows up Miller with ten points per game but lately it has been Robert Champion who has provided a spark off the bench. Champion has poured in 15 and 16 points in two of the last three games.

"It's been great to see Rob Finally find his shooting touch, he can really shoot the ball," Brown said.

Holy Cross keys to the game

Milan Brown

Head coach Milan Brown told GoLocalWorcester that if Holy Cross is going to win, there are three main focuses.

"One, we have to keep them off the offensive glass which is going to be tough, and two, we got to get back on defense in transition and match up," Brown said.

"But really, I'm more concerned about my team and how we need to play, as opposed to my team knowing everything Loyola does, which is impossible," Brown added.

Loyola vs Holy Cross

The Crusaders host the Greyhounds at the Hart Center on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m.

The winner of this game will face the top seeded Bucknell Bison on Thursday, March 5 at Bucknell.

Click here for tickets.

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.