WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior guard Patrick Benzan scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Holy Cross men’s basketball team to a 73-69 victory over Harvard at the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex. The Crusaders improve to 2-0 on the season with the win, while the Crimson fall to 2-1 overall.

Benzan was one of five Holy Cross players to reach double figures on the night, with each of the other four also setting or tying their career high for scoring. Freshman forward Matt Faw and freshman guard Caleb Green both finished with 12 points, while junior forward Jehyve Floyd had 11 points and freshman guard Austin Butler totaled 10 points. Seth Towns led the Crimson with 24 points.

The Crusaders made 50.0 percent of their field goal attempts as a team, including 37.5 percent from three-point range. Holy Cross also held Harvard to 42.3 percent shooting from the floor, while forcing 23 turnovers.

MAN OF THE MATCH PRESENTED BY THE UNITED STATES MARINES:

• Following the contest, Benzan was selected also as the Man of the Match presented by the United States Marines.
• In addition to his 18 points, he totaled a team-best seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After Towns hit a jumper for the Crimson on their opening possession, the Crusaders went on a 12-0 run to claim a 12-2 lead, with Floyd scoring five points during that spurt.
• Holy Cross led by as many as 11 points late in the first half, before taking a 41-31 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
• Early in the second half, the Crusaders expanded their lead to 13 points (46-33) on a three-point play from Faw.
• Holy Cross was still up by 10 (55-45) with 12 minutes left to play, when Harvard scored six straight points to get back into the game.
• The Crusaders held a single-digit lead for the next several minutes, with the Crimson eventually narrowing the margin to two points (68-66) on a free throw by Danilo Djuricic with 22.5 seconds left.
• But that was as close as Harvard would get, as Benzan went on to make five of six free throws in the final 21 seconds to secure the victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Holy Cross has now won its last four games against Harvard, its longest streak in the series since winning five straight from 2000-2004.
• The Crusaders have won nine consecutive games when hitting at least 50.0 percent of their field goal attempts.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 19, when it travels to Rhode Island for a 1:00 p.m. game.

BE PART OF THE ACTION:

• Season and single-game tickets to see the Crusaders are on sale now. Make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to see the best collegiate basketball in Central Massachusetts! Tickets for Holy Cross basketball can be purchased online at GoHolyCross.com/tickets or over the phone by calling 1-844-GOCROSS.

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