The Crusaders made a game of it for 20 minutes at Cincinnati, holding the Bearcats to 37.5 shooting from the field in the first half. But after ending the first half up by 3, 29-26, UC opened the second half with a 16-3 run and never looked back, cruising to a 77-55 win over HC.

Cincinnati shot 59.3 percent in the second half. Depending on who does the talking, that was either because the Bearcats figured out HC's matchup or simply wore the Crusaders down

From the Cincinnati Enquirer story:

"I think we figured out their defense pretty good in the second half," (James) White said. "You're not used to playing a defense like that. They get you standing around a little bit playing a zone, but it's kind of matched up, kind of odd. We had to get used to it a little bit."

White finished with 19 to lead all scorers.

Ralph Willard had a slightly different take on the second half:

"I think they just wore us down physically," said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard. "We allowed them to go one-on-one (in the second half). In the first half, we did a good job of denying that."

Kevin Hamilton finished with 13 points and Keith Simmons added 12 for HC. No other Crusader scored more than 7 points. Hamilton, still slowed by a bruised hip, was 4-for-18 from the floor. As a team, HC shot 30.2 percent and turned the ball over 19 times.

It did not help Holy Cross any when 6-11 Tim Clifford picked up two quick fouls, his third and fourth, in a 34-second span early in the second half. Clifford played only 11 minutes before fouling out, leaving an already undermanned HC frontcourt even thinner.
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