Holy Cross used its size advantage and a stifling zone defense to hand Northeastern an 82-76 loss Monday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.
John Hurley scored 18 points to lead a balanced Crusader attack. Four of Hurley's teammates -- Nate Lufkin (14 points), Kevin Hamilton (13), Torey Thomas (12) and Keith Simmons (12) -- also scored in double figures.
Following an 11-0 run, the Crusaders took their largest lead of the game, 53-38, with 15:49 showing on the clock.
Behind the inspired play of sophomore guard Adrian Martinez, the Huskies battled back to make it 57-55 with 9:16 left. Martinez scored 11 straight Husky points, on two three-pointers, two layups and a free throw, as NU out-scored Holy Cross 17-4 over a six-and-a-half-minute stretch. Martinez finished with 16 points, two shy of his career high.
Junior guard Jose Juan Barea made two foul shots with 7:28 remaining to once again make it a two-point game, 59-57, but Northeastern never threatened after that. Barea had an incredibly difficult night, hitting just four of 22 shots and scoring 12 points. He did hand out a game-high six assists.
Freshman forward Shawn James continued to impress, scoring a career-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals. He was 10-of-10 from the line, tying him for the fifth-best free throw shooting performance in school history.
The other Husky in double figures was senior guard Marcus Barnes, who finished with 17.
The Crusaders out-rebounded the Huskies, 35-26, and owned a 50-26 advantage in points in the paint.
Northeastern hosts Iona Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Holy Cross
12/27/04 7:00 p.m. at Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.
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VISITORS: Northeastern 4-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 Kelly, Bobby........ f 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 2 0 2 28
33 Cole, Janon......... f 2-4 0-0 0-1 3 3 6 1 4 1 2 1 0 25
14 Davis, Bennet....... c 1-2 0-0 3-4 0 4 4 2 5 1 1 0 1 21
03 Barnes, Marcus...... g 6-9 3-6 2-3 1 2 3 4 17 4 2 0 2 36
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... g 4-22 1-8 3-3 1 2 3 4 12 6 5 0 1 32
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 6-9 3-6 1-1 0 0 0 2 16 1 3 0 1 17
15 Farmer, Jeff........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6
21 James, Shawn........ 5-7 0-0 10-10 2 5 7 3 20 0 1 4 3 27
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 8
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 25-58 7-23 19-22 8 18 26 19 76 14 17 5 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-32 43.8% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 43.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 30.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 86.4% 0,4
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HOME TEAM: Holy Cross 6-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Kinsey, Greg........ f 2-4 1-1 2-2 0 3 3 2 7 5 3 0 1 25
24 Hurley, John........ f 8-12 0-0 2-3 3 2 5 1 18 2 1 0 0 31
04 Lufkin, Nate........ c 7-11 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 5 14 3 0 0 1 26
01 Thomas, Torey....... g 4-10 0-2 4-6 1 6 7 1 12 4 3 0 4 36
14 Hamilton, Kevin..... g 3-11 1-6 6-8 0 6 6 4 13 5 3 0 1 32
00 Clifford, Tim....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
10 Simmons, Keith...... 5-7 1-2 1-3 0 3 3 4 12 3 3 2 0 27
20 Doherty, Pat........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 4
41 Hyland, Kevin....... 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 4 0 1 0 2 17
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 32-59 3-11 15-22 9 26 35 21 82 22 16 2 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-30 60.0% 2nd Half: 14-29 48.3% Game: 54.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 12-17 70.6% Game: 68.2% 3,2
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Officials: Fran Connolly, Robert Patey, Gary Pucino
Technical fouls: Northeastern-TEAM. Holy Cross-None.
Attendance: 1849
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 36 40 - 76
Holy Cross.................... 40 42 - 82
Points in the paint-NU 26,HC 50. Points off turnovers-NU 20,HC 16.
2nd chance points-NU 2,HC 8. Fast break points-NU 10,HC 12.
Bench points-NU 36,HC 18. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-NU 2nd-00:00, HC 2nd-03:39.
