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Thursday, November 16, 2006
'Saders stay unbeaten
Look at the final margin of Holy Cross' win over Hampton last night, and you'd think it was a blowout. But the Crusaders 62-47 victory was much closer than that 15-point margin makes it look.

With less than 9 minutes to play, this one was tied at 42-42. Then Keith Simmons came up with a steal and converted at the other end to start a 20-5 end of game run.

Simmons finished 7 of 13 from the field, despite missing 4 of the 5 three-pointers he put up. He added 4 free throws (on 5 shots) to total 19 points in 31 minutes of action. That 31 minutes of playing time would seem to indicate no problems with the cramping that hindered Simmons much of last season. Simmons also had 6 rebounds.

Also in double figures for HC was point guard Torey Thomas, who played through an unspecified leg injury suffered in Tuesday's practice. Most (6) of Thomas' 10 points came at the foul line, where he had a Bucknell-Wake Forest-like showing, hitting just 6 of 14 tries. Thomas did not have his best night, going 2 for 6 from the field and turning the ball over 6 times. But he made up for some of the missed shots andgiveaways with 4 steals and had 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 35 minutes.

Thomas' minutes bear watching. Last season, with Pat Doherty out with foot problems and no other option at the point, Thomas averaged over 36 minutes per game and was worn down a little by the end of the season.

Doherty is back, but he is starting alongside Thomas and Thomas is still playing yeoman's minutes. His 35 against Hampton were tops for the Crusaders, as were the 43 minutes he played in the overtime win over Fairfield in Sunday's season-opener.

Freshman Eric Meister and sophomore starter Alex Vander Baan provided the Crusaders with a solid combo at the four spot. The pair combined for 16 points and 9 rebounds with Vander Baan playing 22 minutes, Meister 17.

Tim Clifford led HC with 8 rebounds and blocked 3 shots, giving him 7 blocks through two games. If he maintains that 3.5 per game pace, Clifford would finish No. 4 on the Patriot League's all-time single season blocks list. The first three spots on that list are all held by Colgate's Adonal Foyle,who averaged 4.9 blocks per game in his freshman year, and more in each of his other two seasons.

The Crusaders will try to stay unbeaten when they host Siena Saturday afternoon.
Box score | AP | Telegram & Gazette
Published at 8:31 AM by Hoop Time.
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