Lafayette 79, Holy Cross 76
Tony Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left to play that gave Lafayette its first and only lead in an exciting 79-76 Patriot League victory over stunned Holy Cross Wednesday night at the Crusaders' Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.
Lafayette improved to 14-14 and 7-4 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross, which shot 67 percent (29 of 43), lost for the seventh time in its last eight games to fall to 11-15 and 3-8.
Lafayette's Johnson led all scorers with 20 points, while Levi Giese added 16 and Dan Trist and Bryce Scott scored 13 each. Justin Burrell led Holy Cross with 19 points, followed by Cullen Hamilton's 18, Eric Obeysekere's 11 and Dave Dudzinski's 10.
With 53 seconds left in the game, Lafayette's Seth Hinrichs nailed a 3-pointer that tied the game at 76-76. After Johnson's go-ahead basket, Holy Cross had a chance to tie with :02 on the clock after Hinrichs' inbounds pass hit a rafter. But the Crusaders turned the ball over when they were called for a five-second violation when trying to get the ball inbounds.
Holy Cross took a 45-39 lead into halftime. The Crusaders started out with an 8-0 lead and boosted that to 21-9 within the first five minutes of the game. Holy Cross got out to a great start on great shooting. The Crusaders, who entered the game shooting 40 percent from the floor, made eight of their first nine shots and were 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
