by THE BASICS:
- Score: Holy Cross 59, Southern 55
- Records: Holy Cross (15-19); Southern (22-13)
- Location: Dayton, Ohio
- Arena: UD Arena
- Date: March 16, 2016
- The Lead: Holy Cross junior guard Robert Champion (Charlotte, N.C.) scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting to help lead the Holy Cross men’s basketball team to a 59-55 victory over Southern in NCAA Tournament First Four action on Wednesday evening at the University of Dayton Arena.
- With the win, Holy Cross advances to the first round of the NCAA Tournament and will take on Oregon, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, on Friday, March 18 at 7:27 p.m. in Spokane, Wash. For tickets to the game versus Oregon, CLICK HERE.
- The win for Holy Cross is its first NCAA Tournament victory since it defeated Wake Forest on March 13, 1953 in the East Region Semifinal. The Crusaders are now 8-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
FIRST HALF:
- Holy Cross jumped out with an early 6-2 lead (16:13) on the back of two layups by Champion. After a bucket by Southern ended the Crusader run, Thompson and Champion drilled back-to-back three-pointers to put Holy Cross ahead, 12-4 (14:10).
- The Crusaders doubled up the Jaguars, 6-3, over the next 5:46 to increase its lead to double-digits (18-7) at the 8:24-mark of the first half. The Holy Cross lead went back and forth between nine and 11 points over the next 4:05, but a three-pointer by Alexander gave the Crusaders their largest lead of the first half (25-13) with 3:51 on the clock.
- Southern, however, ended the first half on a 9-2 run, as Holy Cross held a 27-22 lead at intermission.
- The Crusaders shot 50.0 percent from the field (10-20) in the first half and limited the Jaguars to 36.4 percent from the floor (8-22). The 22 first-half points by Southern was its least amount scored through the first 20 minutes of play this season.
SECOND HALF:
- Southern opened the second half on a 7-1 spurt over the first 3:26 to gain its first lead of the game, 29-28 (16:34). The Crusaders, however, ended the rally on the next possession with a three-pointer by Thompson to go back ahead, 31-29 (16:00).
- After Southern tied the game at 31-31 (14:40), Holy Cross used a 7-2 spurt capped off by a three-pointer by freshman Matt Zignorski (Sparta, N.J.) to gain a 38-33 edge (12:37).
- The Jaguars, however, battled back and went on a 9-0 surge to gain a 42-38 lead with 8:42 left in the second half.
- Southern kept the four-point lead (44-40) with 6:32 on the clock, but a three-pointer by Champion on the next possession cut the deficit to 44-43 (6:03).
- Holy Cross gained the lead back (45-44) on a pair of made free throws by Thompson at the 4:20-mark of the second half, but the Jaguars answered with a jumper on the other end to grab a 46-45 edge (4:00).
- A three-pointer by freshman Karl Charles (Piscataway, N.J.) put Holy Cross ahead by two points (48-46) late in the second half, but Southern answered on the next possession with a trey of its own to go back on top by one (49-48) with 2:34 on the clock.
- Charles and Champion each drilled a pair of free throws on the next two possessions to give the Crusaders a three-point lead (52-49) with1:46 left in the half.
- On the next possession, however, Southern canned a three-pointer to tie the contest at 52-52 (1:24).
- With 57 ticks on the clock, Champion sank a clutch three-pointer off an assist by Alexander to give the Crusaders a three-point 55-52 lead.
- Holy Cross drilled all four of its attempts from the charity stripe to hang on for the 59-55 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Holy Cross shot 45.0 percent from the field (18-40) and canned 9-of-25 from behind the arc (36.0%), while Southern hit on 22-of-56 from the floor (39.3%) and drained 15.0 percent of its shots from downtown (3-20).
- The Crusaders sank 73.7 percent from the free-throw line (14-19) while the Jaguars connected on 8-of-11 from the charity stripe (72.7%).
- Southern held the edge in total rebounds (33-29) and points in the paint (26-14), while Holy Cross led in assists (14-10).
NEWS & NOTES:
- The win for Holy Cross is its first NCAA Tournament victory since it defeated Wake Forest on March 13, 1953 in the East Region Semifinal. The Crusaders are now 8-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Alexander recorded a career-high eight assists in the contest.
