On Jan. 23, the Crusaders dropped a tough 57-46
decision to Army at West Point to fall to 8-12, 2-3 in league
play. After that game, the Holy Cross men's basketball
program turned its season around. The team won 10 of its
next 12 games to finish in second place in the league and
enter the Patriot League Tournament as arguably the hottest
team in the league. In their quarterfinal game, the Crusaders
held Navy to a Patriot League Tournament record low 41 points
in a 59-41 win. Holy Cross held the Midshipmen to just 30.2
percent shooting from the floor and posted a 42-30 rebounding
advantage in picking up the win. Tim Szatko '03 (Naperville,
Ill.) scored 19 points and added nine rebounds to lead the
offensive effort. Fellow guard Brian Wilson '03 (Plainfield,
N.J.) chipped in with 12 points while Guillermo Sanchez '02
(Washington Heights, N.Y.) added a season-high seven points
off the bench. The win helped the team advance to the semifinals
where it would face Bucknell. The Bison led by as many as
six points (27-21) with two minutes left to play but senior
captain Ryan Serravalle '02 (Thorold, Ontario) converted
three free throws and Szatko hit a jumper to bring the Crusaders
to within one point at the half.
The second half saw 13 lead changes and eight ties. Neither
team took more than a three-point lead until Holy Cross went
on a 6-0 run to take a 59-54 lead with 37 seconds remaining
in the game. After Bucknell connected on a three-pointer
to cut the lead to two points, a technical foul was called
on the Bison that resulted in a four-point play for Holy
Cross and a six-point lead. The Crusaders connected on 5-of-6
free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game to secure
the team's 17th win of the season. Szatko scored a
game-high 19 points and added 12 rebounds to lead the Holy
Cross effort while center Patrick Whearty '02 (Poughkeepsie,
N.Y.) posted his first double-double in a month with 13 points
and 11 rebounds. Serravalle finished with 13 points for Holy
Cross, which won its third straight game and fifth in its
last six outings.
Holy Cross held Bucknell to just 40.0 percent (18-of-45)
shooting from the floor and connected on 73.0 percent from
the charity stripe (27-of-37). The win helped the Crusaders
advance to the Patriot League championship game for the second
consecutive season.
This year, however, the team had to head down to Washington,
D.C., to battle top-seed American University at Bender Arena.
Holy Cross trailed by as many as seven points in the first
half (18-11), but the Crusaders responded with a 15-2 run
to take a 26-20 lead with 4:24 left in the first half. American
responded with a 6-0 run of its own to tie the game for the
fourth time in the opening half. The Eagles then carried
a one-point lead into halftime (28-27). Guard Jave Meade '04
(Queensbridge, N.Y.) scored seven points in the first half
to lead the Crusaders' effort. Whearty chipped in with
six points and two blocks to help the cause.
American posted its biggest lead of the second half with
13:40 left in the game (40-34) as they went on a 5-0 run.
Holy Cross then answered with a 13-2 run of its own capped
off by Szatko's jumper in the lane. The Eagles answered
with a 6-3 run to cut the Crusaders' lead to two points
(50-48) with 4:13 left. After the team missed a free throw
with two minutes left in the game, American connected on
a three-point field goal from the top of the key to take
a one-point lead (51-50) with 1:37 remaining in the game.
Holy Cross regained the lead again with 1:00 left in the
contest when Whearty converted a layup. After American missed
a three-pointer from the corner, the team's opportunity
to extend its lead failed when the Crusaders missed two free
throws. The Eagles missed another three-point attempt with
16 seconds remaining, and Wilson pulled down the rebound.
He knocked down two free throws with 16 seconds left and
then after another missed three point attempt, Wilson converted
two more free throws with six seconds left in the game. After
American converted a three pointer to cut the Crusaders lead
to two points (56-54), Serravalle knocked down two free throws
with one second remaining to secure the win.
Szatko scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second
half while Wilson chipped in with 10-second half points to
lead the Crusader scoring effort. Holy Cross turned the ball
over a season-low four times while handing out 13 assists.
Szatko was named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament while
teammate Wilson joined him on the All-Tournament team.
Holy Cross then was 16th seed in the Midwest region and
battled Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. The Crusaders fought
down to the wire before falling, 70-59. Wilson scored 13
points, pulled down four rebounds and three assists to earn
CBS Player of the Game honors. The Crusaders trailed 11-4
with 15:59 left to play in the first half but responded with
a 10-2 run capped off by a four-point play by Serravalle
to take a one-point lead. Holy Cross stretched its lead to
as many as five points with 10:33 left in the opening half
after Whearty knocked down two free throws. The Jayhawks
responded with a 14-4 run of its own to take a five-point
lead with 5:38 left in the first half. The Crusaders refused
to give up though and battled back to tie the score with
2:19 left in the opening stanza of play. Holy Cross then
carried a 37-35 lead into halftime after a jumper in the
lane by Wilson.
In the second half, the Crusaders stretched their lead to
five points with 17:54 left in the second half on a three
pointer from Meade. Holy Cross held its five-point lead with
14:27 remaining in the game before Kansas used a 9-2 run
to regain control of the game at 48-46. The Crusaders continued
to battle as Szatko converted three free throws to give the
team a one point-lead with 8:48 left in the contest. The
Jayhawks, ranked second in the nation entering the game,
then went on a 8-1 run to take a six-point lead (56-50) with
7:11 remaining. Once again, Holy Cross battled back, and
when Wilson connected on a three pointer with 6:05 left in
the game, the team trailed by just one point (56-55). Unfortunately
for Holy Cross that was as close as the Crusaders would get.
Kansas then outscored the team, 14-4 down the stretch to
pick up the win.
Holy Cross ended the regular season ranked sixth in the
nation in scoring defense allowing just 59.3 points per game,
and despite the loss in the NCAAs, the 2001-02 season started
slowly but ended with a fantastic finish. The Crusaders won
their second consecutive Patriot League title for the first
time in school history while posting 18 wins for only the
fifth time since 1990 and 25th time in the 83-year history
of men's basketball. With 10 of the 12 players returning
from this season and on the strength of back-to-back league
titles and NCAA appearances, the future looks extremely bright
for Holy Cross men's basketball.
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