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Friday, December 29, 2006
Kyle Cruze has the game of his career to help Holy Cross past LaSalle.
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
PHILADELPHIA -- Heading into a three-games in three days visit to the City of Brotherly Love, the injury ravaged Holy Cross Crusaders needed somebody to step up. They found that somebody in an unlikely spot.
Junior guard Kyle Cruze, who hardly figured into Ralph Willard's plans in the preseason, scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Crusaders to a 68-48 win over host LaSalle in the opener of the four-team round robin LaSalle Invitational.
Cruze, who has been pressed into starting duty on the wing by injuries to Pat Doherty and Lawrence Dixon, came into the game having scored only 9 points all season. LaSalle fans unfamiliar with the Crusaders' stats would never have guessed it. The first time he got an open look on the right side of the three-point arc, Cruze calmly drained the trey for a 3-0 lead. Moments later he went backdoor for a layup and a 5-0 HC lead. Then just before the first media timeout, Cruze finished a one-man 8-0 run with his second of what would be three three-pointers on the night.
"(Cruze) has been working really hard. We're in a situation with Pat (Doherty) and Lawrence (Dixon) out. I told him he had to step up," HC coach Willard said.
Staked to that lead, Holy Cross (7-5) made it stand up the entire game, using a combination of hot shooting, strong rebounding and a solid 2-3 zone defense to stifle any thoughts of a LaSalle comeback.
The zone, something the Crusaders have been working on in an effort to save some legs for its injury-shortened rotation, kept LaSalle from ever finding any offensive rhythm. The Explorers (6-4), who boast a rotation with just one player smaller than 6-5, prefer to do their scoring close to the basket. Against Holy Cross' zone, the middle was not there. Neither were LaSalle's perimeter shooters. The Explorers jacked up 19 three-pointers. They drained only 5. Overall, the Crusaders held LaSalle to 31.9 percent (15 of 47) shooting from the field.
"We did a good job (in the 2-3). Especially in finding (Darnell) Harris," Willard said.
Harris, who came in averaging nearly 15 points per game, had just 9, going 3 for 12 from the field. Rodney Green, LaSalle's leading scorer, finished with 10, well below his average of 16 per game.
The Holy Cross zone had a lot to do with Harris and Green's struggles. And Cruze's offensive boost had a lot to do with the Crusaders being able to stick with the zone all night.
"Those first eight points gave us a cushion and gave us the freedom to play that zone. Getting the lead early gave us a little confidence and gave us the leeway to stay in it to see how it would work," said Holy Cross senior Keith Simmons, who finished with 14 points despite being limited to 24 minutes by foul trouble.
Holy Cross center Tim Clifford also sat a long stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth personal with 15:28 to play and never got into the offensive flow, other than a brief spurt early in the second half when he scored all 5 of his points. That left Holy Cross with just one of its top three scorers, point guard Torey Thomas, on the floor for most of the second half.
"(Cruze's offense) was huge. There's really no other way to put it. . I was in a little foul trouble. Tim had a slow game tonight. We needed an offensive boost . . . He made his open shots. he made smart decisions and he didn't turn the ball over," Simmons said.
With Simmons and Cruze combining for 22 points in the first half, Holy Cross took a 32-21 lead to the intermission. The Crusaders opened the second half with an 8-0 run, including threes by Cruze and Clifford, pushing the margin to 40-21. The Crusaders offense slowed a little after that, but its defense made sure it didn't matter. At one point the Crusaders held LaSalle without a field goal for a stretch of over 7 minutes. The Explorers never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Thomas, who had 5 points in the first half, all from the foul line, added 9 in the second to join Simmons and Cruze in double figures.
"The defense we played was really exceptional tonight. We had fresh legs for a change," said Willard.
Playing the zone helped keep those legs fresh the whole way. And even though Willard downplayed the impact that will have when Holy Cross faces Niagare tonight (Friday) at 8, Simmons thought otherwise.
"That's really going to help our legs tomorrow night," Simmons said.
Another key for Holy Cross was rebounding. The Crusaders held a 34-24 edge on the boards, the first team to outrebound LaSalle this season.
"We spent the last two days having two sessions a day working on blockouts. We spent a lot of time preparing for that and made it our number one priority," Willard said.
The win snaps a four game losing streak for Holy Cross, which had not won in the month of December prior to last night.
| Gameblog | Post game audio (Ralph Willard, Cruze, Simmons) | Notebook |
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
PHILADELPHIA -- Heading into a three-games in three days visit to the City of Brotherly Love, the injury ravaged Holy Cross Crusaders needed somebody to step up. They found that somebody in an unlikely spot.
Junior guard Kyle Cruze, who hardly figured into Ralph Willard's plans in the preseason, scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Crusaders to a 68-48 win over host LaSalle in the opener of the four-team round robin LaSalle Invitational.
Cruze, who has been pressed into starting duty on the wing by injuries to Pat Doherty and Lawrence Dixon, came into the game having scored only 9 points all season. LaSalle fans unfamiliar with the Crusaders' stats would never have guessed it. The first time he got an open look on the right side of the three-point arc, Cruze calmly drained the trey for a 3-0 lead. Moments later he went backdoor for a layup and a 5-0 HC lead. Then just before the first media timeout, Cruze finished a one-man 8-0 run with his second of what would be three three-pointers on the night.
"(Cruze) has been working really hard. We're in a situation with Pat (Doherty) and Lawrence (Dixon) out. I told him he had to step up," HC coach Willard said.
Staked to that lead, Holy Cross (7-5) made it stand up the entire game, using a combination of hot shooting, strong rebounding and a solid 2-3 zone defense to stifle any thoughts of a LaSalle comeback.
The zone, something the Crusaders have been working on in an effort to save some legs for its injury-shortened rotation, kept LaSalle from ever finding any offensive rhythm. The Explorers (6-4), who boast a rotation with just one player smaller than 6-5, prefer to do their scoring close to the basket. Against Holy Cross' zone, the middle was not there. Neither were LaSalle's perimeter shooters. The Explorers jacked up 19 three-pointers. They drained only 5. Overall, the Crusaders held LaSalle to 31.9 percent (15 of 47) shooting from the field.
"We did a good job (in the 2-3). Especially in finding (Darnell) Harris," Willard said.
Harris, who came in averaging nearly 15 points per game, had just 9, going 3 for 12 from the field. Rodney Green, LaSalle's leading scorer, finished with 10, well below his average of 16 per game.
The Holy Cross zone had a lot to do with Harris and Green's struggles. And Cruze's offensive boost had a lot to do with the Crusaders being able to stick with the zone all night.
"Those first eight points gave us a cushion and gave us the freedom to play that zone. Getting the lead early gave us a little confidence and gave us the leeway to stay in it to see how it would work," said Holy Cross senior Keith Simmons, who finished with 14 points despite being limited to 24 minutes by foul trouble.
Holy Cross center Tim Clifford also sat a long stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth personal with 15:28 to play and never got into the offensive flow, other than a brief spurt early in the second half when he scored all 5 of his points. That left Holy Cross with just one of its top three scorers, point guard Torey Thomas, on the floor for most of the second half.
"(Cruze's offense) was huge. There's really no other way to put it. . I was in a little foul trouble. Tim had a slow game tonight. We needed an offensive boost . . . He made his open shots. he made smart decisions and he didn't turn the ball over," Simmons said.
With Simmons and Cruze combining for 22 points in the first half, Holy Cross took a 32-21 lead to the intermission. The Crusaders opened the second half with an 8-0 run, including threes by Cruze and Clifford, pushing the margin to 40-21. The Crusaders offense slowed a little after that, but its defense made sure it didn't matter. At one point the Crusaders held LaSalle without a field goal for a stretch of over 7 minutes. The Explorers never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Thomas, who had 5 points in the first half, all from the foul line, added 9 in the second to join Simmons and Cruze in double figures.
"The defense we played was really exceptional tonight. We had fresh legs for a change," said Willard.
Playing the zone helped keep those legs fresh the whole way. And even though Willard downplayed the impact that will have when Holy Cross faces Niagare tonight (Friday) at 8, Simmons thought otherwise.
"That's really going to help our legs tomorrow night," Simmons said.
Another key for Holy Cross was rebounding. The Crusaders held a 34-24 edge on the boards, the first team to outrebound LaSalle this season.
"We spent the last two days having two sessions a day working on blockouts. We spent a lot of time preparing for that and made it our number one priority," Willard said.
The win snaps a four game losing streak for Holy Cross, which had not won in the month of December prior to last night.
| Gameblog | Post game audio (Ralph Willard, Cruze, Simmons) | Notebook |
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