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Sunday, November 05, 2006
HC romps in exhibition
Holy Cross made short work of Canadian side St. Francis Xavier, romping to an 84-45 exhibition win behind 17 points from Tim Clifford and Keith Simmons.

Clifford added 7 boards and 4 blocks, a pretty impressive line for 21 minutes of work. Simmons also with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. He played only 20 minutes.

Two surprises in the box score: junior Kyle Cruze got the start in Kevin Hamilton's old spot. That spot was expected to be filled by either Lawrence Dixon or Colin Cunningham, both sophomores. But Dixon is still hobbled while rehabbing after a torn meniscus and did not play in the exhibition opener. Back on media day, HC coach Ralph Willard talked of hoping to have him back in action by Thanksgiving, so his DNP was not unexpected.

Cunningham, who suffered a bad ankle sprain late in the summer, had been expected to be out until close to the start of November. He did play against SFX, scoring 3 points, with 3 rebounds an 3 assists in 15 minutes.

In the preseason, Willard did not even mention Cruze when we talked about his rotation for the Blue Ribbon previews. It will be interesting to see if he stays in the rotation when Cunningham and Dixon are fully recovered.

The other surprise was the absence of sophomore power forward Alex Vander Baan, who was a DNP in the exhibition. Reports from Worcester indicate Vander Baan is recovering from surgery caused by a staph infection in his arm. Freshman Eric Heister started in his place, scoring 10 points while grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 4 shots.

The Crusaders other front court recruit, Andrew Keister, saw 20 minutes of action, finishing with 13 points and 5 boards.

Junior point guard Pat Doherty (who has sophomore eligibility after a medical redshirt last season for foot problems) appears to be healthy. He played 24 minutes, and even though he went 1 for 6 from the field, that is good news for HC. Doherty did have 5 assists (just 2 turnovers).

Starting point guard Torey Thomas also had a productive night -- 11 points, 7 assists. Thomas' 30 minutes were the most by any HC player.

Also worth noting, in typical HC fashion, the Crusaders held SFX to 28.3 percent shooting from the field.
Published at 7:32 AM by Hoop Time.
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