Keith Simmons scored 15 points, while Kevin Hamilton notched 13 with eight rebounds and five assists as Holy Cross held Northeastern to its lowest scoring total since 2001-02 in a 59-44 non-conference victory Friday afternoon at Solomon Court.
The Huskies (6-4) played without its two leaders, as head coach Ron Everhart was suspended for the contest after receiving a pair of technical fouls on Tuesday night at Wright State and senior captain Jose Juan Barea was held out due to tendonitis in his knee. Northeastern put up just 44 points for the first time since Dec. 8, 2001 when it was defeated 80-44 at the hands of Connecticut.
Simmons and the Crusaders (6-7) raced to a 15-2 lead at the 11:08 mark, then extended their advantage by the end of the half to 17 points on 11-of-29 shooting (37.9 percent), while limiting the Huskies to their worst half of the season offensively, with just 11 points on 16.7 percent shooting (4-of-24) and 12 turnovers.
In the second half, Chris Cyprian nailed a three from the top of the arc to close the Holy Cross lead to nine at 40-31 with 11:31 to play, but the Crusaders continued to frustrate the NU offense while they built their lead back to 19 after a 13-3 run capped by a Simmons 3-pointer.
Alex Vander Baan finished the night with seven points and a game-high nine rebounds for Holy Cross, while Tim Clifford scored six and hauled in five boards. The Crusaders shot 42.9 percent overall and outrebounded the Huskies, 42-30.
Janon Cole led the Huskies with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Shawn James, Bennet Davis and Adrian Martinez each scored seven. Bennet Davis also grabbed seven rebounds for NU. Northeastern entered the game shooting 48.3 percent on the season and averaging 83.8 points per game.
The Huskies return to conference play as they play host to George Mason for a CAA-showdown beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Matthews Arena. The game is the second half of a doubleheader, as the Northeastern women play their first ever Colonial Athletic Association contest by welcoming Hofstra to Matthews Arena at 5 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Holy Cross vs Northeastern
12/30/05 3 p.m. at Solomon Court (Boston, Mass.)
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VISITORS: Holy Cross 6-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Thomas, Torey....... * 2-9 0-1 1-2 0 8 8 2 5 4 6 0 3 39
10 Simmons, Keith...... * 5-11 3-6 2-2 4 1 5 0 15 0 1 0 1 27
14 Hamilton, Kevin..... * 6-17 1-5 0-0 0 8 8 3 13 5 4 0 1 38
21 Vander Baan, Alex... * 2-5 1-1 2-2 3 6 9 4 7 0 1 0 0 29
41 Hyland, Kevin....... * 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 4 2 3 1 1 17
00 Clifford, Tim....... 3-4 0-0 0-0 4 1 5 2 6 1 0 0 0 23
03 Dixon, Lawrence..... 3-4 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 3 7 0 0 0 0 13
15 Cruze, Kyle......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
33 Cunningham, Colin... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 13
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 24-56 6-15 5-6 13 29 42 18 59 14 16 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-29 37.9% 2nd Half: 13-27 48.1% Game: 42.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 83.3% 0
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 6-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Martinez, Adrian.... * 3-8 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 3 7 2 1 0 1 22
12 Davis, Aaron........ * 1-8 1-5 0-0 0 3 3 1 3 1 1 0 2 30
21 James, Shawn........ * 3-8 1-1 0-1 0 3 3 2 7 1 3 3 1 29
22 Kelly, Bobby........ * 2-6 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 1 3 0 0 35
33 Cole, Janon......... * 3-4 0-0 5-10 4 4 8 1 11 3 2 0 0 29
04 Cyprian, Chris...... 1-1 1-1 0-1 0 1 1 2 3 1 3 0 1 14
14 Davis, Bennet....... 1-9 0-4 5-6 2 5 7 1 7 0 0 1 1 22
15 Farmer, Jeff........ 1-3 0-1 0-0 3 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 0 9
44 Brickley, Chris..... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 9
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 15-49 4-20 10-18 10 20 30 10 44 11 15 4 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 4-24 16.7% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% Game: 30.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 10.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 55.6% 3
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Officials: Gary Pucino, Michael Stephens, John Gaffney
Technical fouls: Holy Cross-None. Northeastern-None.
Attendance: 1776
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Holy Cross.................... 28 31 - 59
Northeastern.................. 11 33 - 44
Points in the paint-HC 28,NU 18. Points off turnovers-HC 9,NU 11.
2nd chance points-HC 16,NU 12. Fast break points-HC 6,NU 2.
Bench points-HC 15,NU 12. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-HC 2nd-00:22, NU 2nd-00:14.
