The Holy Cross men’s basketball team will play against Navy on Wednesday, January 21, at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Holy Cross enters the matchup with an overall record of 8-11 and a Patriot League record of 3-3. In their most recent game, the Crusaders lost to Lafayette by a score of 74-55. Sophomore guard Tyler Boston led Holy Cross with 18 points, shooting 58.3 percent from the field, while junior guard/forward Joe Nugent contributed 16 points along with four rebounds and two steals.
Boston was recognized as a Patriot League Honorable Mention on Monday after averaging 19 points, 2.5 assists, and two rebounds per game during the previous week. He shot over 54 percent from the field and made six out of ten three-point attempts.
Joe Nugent currently ranks third in the Patriot League for free throw percentage at 87.2 percent (34-for-39). Declan Ryan, a junior forward, holds fourth place in conference games for field goal percentage at nearly 60 percent (59.4%, 19-for-32). According to sports-reference.com, Nugent is rated as the fourth best offensive player in the league based on offensive rating (124.1).
On December 22nd, Holy Cross Athletics announced that “the court in the Hart Center Arena will be dedicated and named in honor of Crusader and NBA legend Bob Cousy.” The formal dedication ceremony for Bob Cousy ’50 Court is set for Saturday, February 7th before Holy Cross faces Lehigh during Winter Homecoming Weekend.
In national rankings compiled by Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings for this season, Holy Cross stands eighth among Patriot League teams at position No. 322 overall; they are ranked No. 315 in offensive rating (101.6) and No. 292 defensively (116.3).
Navy comes into Wednesday’s contest with a record of 13-6 overall and leads much of the conference defensively through six league games; they are first in scoring defense (64 points allowed per game), field goal percentage defense (38.9%), three-point defense (26%), defensive rebounds per game (29.3), and blocked shots per game (3.5). In their last outing, Navy defeated Lehigh in double overtime by a score of 82-79 behind Austin Benigni’s career-high performance—he played all fifty minutes and scored thirty-two points—and Aidan Kehoe’s double-double featuring twenty-one points and twenty-one rebounds.
Benigni also received Patriot League Honorable Mention recognition after averaging twenty-three points over two games last week; he ranks eighth nationally for free throws made this season with one hundred fifteen conversions and seventeenth for average minutes played per game at thirty-five point five minutes.
Kehoe stands second nationwide in field goal percentage at seventy-one point four percent while ranking fourth in total rebounds (205), sixth in average rebounds per game (10.8), and fifteenth nationally for double-doubles achieved this year with nine.
Navy is currently second among Patriot League teams according to Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings at No.198 overall; they are ranked No.282 offensively (104.4) but have a strong defensive mark at No.110 nationally (107.5).
Historically, Holy Cross leads Navy in their series dating back to nineteen forty-seven with forty-eight wins against thirty-two losses (.600 winning percentage). However, Navy has claimed victory five times out of their last six meetings—including their previous encounter on January third when Navy won sixty-five to fifty-eight despite Tyler Boston’s sixteen-point effort for Holy Cross.
Fans can follow updates about Holy Cross men’s basketball via social media platforms including X (@HCrossMBB or @goholycross), Instagram (@hcrossmbb or @goholycross), Facebook (“Holy Cross Men’s Basketball” or “Holy Cross Athletics”), as well as YouTube under GoHolyCross.
