Men's Basketball Drops Contest at Holy Cross
The Central Connecticut men's basketball fell at Holy Cross, 63-57, on Saturday at the Hart Center in Worcester, MA. CCSU trailed by just a point in the closing minutes, but the Crusaders would score five straight to make it a two possession game and the Blue Devils were unable to get with four points the rest of the way.
The Central Connecticut men's basketball fell at Holy Cross, 63-57, on Saturday at the Hart Center in Worcester, MA. CCSU trailed by just a point in the closing minutes, but the Crusaders would score five straight to make it a two possession game and the Blue Devils were unable to get with four points the rest of the way.
Kellen Amos led CCSU with 20 points, pacing three Blue Devils in double-figures. Abdule Momoh and Davonte Sweatman each grabbed a career-best eight rebounds. CCSU shot 24-of-68 (.353) from the field overall, but just 6-of-25 (.240) from three-point range. CCSU went 3-of-5 (.600) at the foul line.
Gerrale Gates scored a game-high 22 points to lead three Holy Cross scorers in double-figures. The Crusaders went 24-of-57 (.421) overall from the field and 3-of-15 (.200) from three-point range. Holy Cross was 12-of-13 (.923) at the foul line.
The Blue Devils are off until hosting Dartmouth on Dec. 9.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: CCSU 57, Holy Cross 63
Records: CCSU (0-9), HC (3-6)
Location: Hart Center | Worcester, MA
KEY MOMENTS
- The teams combined to shoot just 2-of-7 in the opening three minutes, before the Blue Devils began to settle in and take an early lead Andre Snoddy would sandwich a pair of three-pointers around a bucket by Joe Ostrowsky to make it 12-6 just over five minutes into the game. The Blue Devils started the game, shooting 5-of-10 while building their largest lead of the game.
- Abdul Momoh would make 1-of-2 at the foul line to give CCSU a 22-20 with 9:18 to go in the half. Following Momoh's foul shot, the Blue Devils would endure a seven-minute scoreless drought and a stretch of shooting just 1-of-16 from the field. Holy Cross would manage to score six straight points and build a 26-22 lead after a pair of foul shots by Bo Montgomery. Central's defense would keep the contest close until a layup by Jay Rodgers ended the scoreless streak and made it 26-24 with 1:40 to play in the half. After a Crusaders bucket, Davonte Sweatman would go coast-to-coast for a layup to make it 28-26 at the intermission in favor of the home side.
- Gates would score the first four points of the second half for Holy Cross to push the lead to 32-26 less than a minute into the period. Snoddy would respond with five straight points to get the Blue Devils within a point following a three-point play at the first media timeout. The Crusaders would maintain the lead throughout, and after a quick 6-1 run made it 46-40 with 9:26 remaining, CCSU would call a timeout.
- The game would go back-and-forth until back-to-back layups by Sweatman and Snoddy again got Central within a point at 50-49 with 4:41 remaining. The Blue Devils would get within a point on two more occasions, the last coming on a dunk by Kellen Amos with 2:08 left to make it 54-53, but the Crusaders would manage to hang onto its lead. Holy Cross would make four straight foul shots to build its largest lead of the night at 63-55 before a layup by Amos would close out the scoring.
QUOTABLE
"We competed on the boards today and worked hard on the defensive end," said head coach Patrick Sellers. "We will take this defensive and rebounding mindset into our remaining games and use this attitude to turn our season around."
NUMBER TO KNOW
15 – CCSU collected a season-high 15 offensive rebounds and had an 11-4 edge in second chance scoring.
NOTES
- Holy Cross leads the all-time series, 3-1.
- Amos would score 16 of his points after halftime when he shot 7-of-14 from the field. He added five rebounds.
- Snoddy added 13 points and five rebounds. It was his 31st career game with at least five rebounds.
- Sweatman came off the bench to score 12 points, marking the fifth time this season he's scored in double-digits.
- Central outrebounded its opponent for the second straight game, outboarding Holy Cross, 41-37.
- The game was the sixth of the season for CCSU decided by eight points or fewer.
UP NEXT
The Blue Devils are off until hosting Dartmouth on Dec. 9.