Jan. 2, 2009
Final Stats | Video Highlights
BOSTON - With four players scoring in double-figures, Holy Cross used a 19-5 run early in the second half to push a five-point lead to 19 en route to a 68-49 victory over the Boston University men's basketball team on Friday night in Agganis Arena. With the loss, the Terriers drop to 5-7, while the Crusaders improve to 5-9 on the season.
BU's freshmen Jake O'Brien and Jeff Pelage were the star contributors as they combined for 25 points and eight rebounds. Named America East player of the game, O'Brien led the Terriers with 16 points, while Pelage had a career-high nine points and team-high five rebounds after playing a career-high 25 minutes. Matt Wolff had a season-best five assists, while John Holland recorded a season-high five steals.
Holy Cross was led by Andrew Beinert, who had 18 points off 7-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Forward Andrew Keister contributed a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Other double-figure scorers included Colin Cunningham with 15 and R.J. Evans with 12. They helped give Holy Cross its sixth-straight victory over BU and also pushed the all-time series lead to 51-12.
The Crusaders started the new year with a 17-5 run that was capped by Evans at 12:29 on a fastbreak layup after he created a turnover. The Terriers cut the deficit to seven twice in the first half but were trailing 29-20 when Evans missed a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining to possibly push the lead to double-digits. Tyler Morris quickly advanced the ball up the court and was fouled while attempting a shot with a little more than a second remaining. He drained both attempts from the charity stripe, as Holy Cross entered the locker room ahead, 29-22.
At the half, HC hit 11-of-25 shots (44%) but was only 5-of-10 from the line, allowing a BU squad that was 1-of-7 from 3-point land to remain close in the contest. Both teams had nine turnovers.
To begin the second half, Holland went for a fastbreak layup off a steal by Lowe but was fouled at 19:19. He flushed both free throws to cut the lead to five, but the Crusaders quickly responded with a 10-0 run that began with a 3-pointer by Einert and ended with a layup by Evans at 16:26.
Trailing 48-29, O'Brien scored the next eight points off one jumper and two treys, and Lowe followed with a layup to cut the deficit to nine with 10:25 remaining at 48-39. However, Beinert immediately responded with a trey, and Holy Cross' lead never went below 12 the rest of the game. The squad hit 13-of-19 field goals for a blistering 68.4 percent in the second stanza to prevent any chance of a BU rally.
The Crusaders won the battle of the boards, 33-20, but committed 20 turnovers against BU's 17. They finished at 54.5 percent from the field, while BU ended the game at 37.2 percent, including 3-of-17 from the 3-point line, though the team did make 14-of-17 free throw attempts.
Up next for BU is the beginning of the conference slate, as the Terriers pay a visit to Albany on Thursday (Jan. 8) with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
