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Thursday, February 15, 2007
Holy Cross-Navy notebook (early edition)
Notes and observations from courtside at this afternoon's late matinee in Annapolis.

  • The officiating crew working this afternoon's game is not the one originally assigned to work this contest. The postponement and weather related travel woes forced assigners to scramble to put together crews.

    One of the three working this game said a high school ref worked Wednesday night's ESPN game between No. 2 Ohio State and Penn State when the the third official assigned to the game could not make it through the snow to State College.

  • The Mids were 0 for 3 with 4 turnovers on their first seven possessions, falling behind 9-0 before making its first field goal -- a T.J. Topercer three at the 16:32 mark of the first half.

  • Between Topercer's bucket and the next media timeout, which came at the 11:46 mark, Navy was 0 for 4 with three more turnovers. The Mids did manage a free throw in that stretch. In the same span, Holy Cross added 10 more points for a 19-4 lead. Seven of the 10 came from Tim Clifford, who had 11 points in the first 9:10 of the game. The Crusaders opened the game shooting 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from the floor.

  • By the time Greg Sprink made Navy's second field goal of the game, Navy had gone 7:55 without a field goal. The Mids, between Topercer's trey and Sprink's layup, were 0 for 8 with 5 more turnovers. After Sprink's bucket cut the Holy Cross lead to 23-6, Navy was 2 for 13 from the field with 9 turnovers. In that same stretch, Clifford was 6 for 8 with 15 points, two blocks and a steal.

  • The Mids missed four more shots before Bryce Brigham scored their third field goal of the half, a three that resulted in a four-point play when he was fouled in the act by Eric Meister.

  • At the media timeout with 2:59 to play first half, Holy Cross was 12 for 21 (57.1 percent) from the field. Clifford (7 for 9) has 17 points. Navy was 4 for 19, 21.1 percent. Brigham, with two treys and 7 points, was the only Mid with more than one basket.

  • A 5-foot jumper from the left baseline with about 45 seconds to go in the half gave Clifford 21 points at the half, one shy of his whole game season high of 22 at Harvard back on Nov. 21. Keith Simmons (10 points) was also in double figures at the break.

  • FIRST HALF STATS: HC 15 of 26 (57.7 percent) from the field; 3-9 on three-pointers, 3-4 at the foul line. Navy 5 of 23 (21.7 percent), 4 of 10 threes, 4-5 FT. Turnovers: HC 10, Navy 11. Rebounds: HC 19, Navy 11.

  • Navy's 5 of 23 first half shooting is identical to its first half the last time HC visited Alumni Hall. HC led 35-15 in that one at the break.

  • The Crusaders scrambled out of Alumni Hall in a hurry after the game, headed for the airport and an 8 p.m. flight to New York . . . Holy Cross will spend Friday wrapping film sessions at their Long Island hotel around a 2:30 practice at Hofstra to prepare for Saturday's BracketBusters game . . . The win was Holy Cross' 17th in a row over Navy, the longest such streak in the league . . . just one of the last 12 HC wins in the series has been by a single-digit margin

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    • Published at 3:46 PM by Hoop Time.
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