Turning Point

BC held a 2 point lead early in the 2nd half, but a hustle play seemed to spark a big run. Center Dennis Clifford went hard after an offensive rebound and quickly kicked it out to Lonnie Jackson for three. Jackson waited for a defender to approach him, which opened Ryan Anderson all alone underneath for a layup. The Eagles went up 37-33, and from there went on a 13-2 run to pull away from the Crusaders for good. Patrick Heckmann had two treys during the run and Olivier Hanlan added one as well.

What Went Right

BC fans have been waiting all year for their team to get hot from deep and Saturday was that day. BC was on fire from three point land all afternoon, shooting 6-for-11 in 1st half, and 4-for-13 in the 2nd half. Heckmann was the catalyst of that effort going 5-of-7 from long range himself.

"I think Patrick, Olivier, Joe and Lonnie are all good shooters. So if we share the ball properly and get our feet set then we are a good shooting team," said Steve Donahue.

Heckmann (19 points) and Anderson (18 points) were the leading scorers in the game, but both players had plenty of wide open looks. The reason for that was Hanlan, Rahon, and Jackson were all moving the ball well on the perimeter. In addition, the two freshmen guard did a terrific job of penetrating against the Holy Cross guards.

What Went Wrong

BC started off very ugly offensively. In the first couple of minutes the Eagles tossed a pass out of bounds, got a ball stolen which was taken the other way for a layup, and dribbled a ball out of bounds. It took the Eagles more than 9 minutes to break double digits, and they were fortunate that the Crusaders didn't take advantage to the slow start.

Decisive Matchup

The BC guards were far superior to the HC guards. While both guard pairings struggled defensively, the BC guards did a much better job of finding open teammates off of penetration and also scoring off of penetration. Hanlan and Rahon outscored the Holy Cross starting backcourt 23-6. The Crusaders' leading scorer Justin Burrell was held to 4 points, 11 below his season average.

Biggest Surprise

It was surprising that the Crusaders didn't go down low to Dave Dudzinski (15 points 6 rebounds) more. Anderson didn't have an easy time covering Dudzinski early in the game and the Holy Cross forward was having his way with him. Donahue actually went with Clifford pretty early to try and slow him down.
In addition, BC played a much smaller lineup than Holy Cross but still managed to outrebound them 32-31. That was a battle that Holy Cross had to win if they were going to pull off an upset.

"I was very concerned that we could match their physicality and now that we are playing smaller as well that was a concern," said Donahue.

Three Stars of the Game

1.Patrick Heckmann-The German led all scorers with 19 points and was an assassin from deep. Almost as impressive was Heckmann's play on the defensive end where he had 5 steals and a block. Heckmann brought intensity on defense all afternoon, which is a part of his game that BC needs him to be more consistent with each and every game.

2.Joe Rahon- Rahon only had 9 points, but he had a game high 6 assists and 0 turnovers. Rahon had his way penetrating to the hoop all afternoon and was the key reason that Heckmann had so many open threes.

3.Olivier Hanlan- Hanlan had 14 points and 5 rebounds, but his most important contribution was locking down HC's leading scorer Justin Burrell to 4 points.

...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial