WASHINGTON -- Holy Cross became just the second team in Patriot League history to win the league title on the road as it narrowly defeated regular season league champion American, 58-54, on Friday in a packed Bender Arena. The Crusaders (18-14, 9-5 PL) earned their second straight Patriot League crown and the league's accompanying NCAA bid.
The only other home team to fall in the Patriot League finals was Bucknell, which lost to Holy Cross in the 1993 championship
game.
American (18-12, 10-4 PL) jumped out to a quick start behind Steven Miles' three-pointer to start the scoring as the Eagles hit eight of their first nine shots. Holy Cross came back to grab the lead five minutes into the contest on a fastbreak layup by Brian Wilson. American, however, took charge in its next posession and held the lead until the eight minute mark.
A layup by Ryan Servalle gave the Crusaders a lead they would hold until a Keith Gray layup with 1:02 left sealed the first half scoring with American up 28-27.
The Eagles started the second half on a mission, going up by five points on buckets by Miles and Patrick Doctor. But the Crusaders came back within one and was able to grab its own five-point lead with seven minutes to play. American started a comeback yet again, capped by an Andres Rodriguez three-pointer with 1:30 to play, giving American a one-point lead (51-50).
Holy Cross grabbed the one-point advantage on its next posession and would not give up the lead the rest of the way as a three-pointer by Glenn Stokes with 16 seconds left could not get the Eagles any closer than two points.
American outrebounded the Crusaders, 26-25, but it was turnovers that hurt the Eagles, giving up 12 to Holy Cross' four.
Doctor finished with a game-high 18 points and All-Tournament honors while Miles notched 14 points, including four-of-seven from three-point range.
Tim Szatko grabbed the Tournament MVP award while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds to go along with 16 points. Wilson, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team, recorded 15 points on the afternoon.
The Eagles wrapped up one of their most successful seasons in the history of the program, going 18-12 overall and completing one of the nation's best turnarounds this season from a 7-20 campaign last year.
