Matt Husek sank two free throws with three seconds to play on Monday night, helping Holy Cross hold on for a 76-75 men’s basketball victory over the University of Maine at Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Black Bears, who trailed by as many as 13 points earlier in the second half, rallied back to within a point down the stretch, but could not get over the hump.
Junior guard Robert Champion spearheaded the effort for the Crusaders with 20 points, including some key late free throws. Husek, a 6-foot-11 center, registered a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Karl Charles and Cullen Hamilton scored 13 points each for Holy Cross, which shot 49 percent (26-for-53) overall and converted 17 of 28 free throws, only 61 percent.
The Crusaders (5-6) outrebounded the Black Bears by a 36-33 count.
Junior guard Troy Reid-Knight headed a quintet of double-figure scorers for UMaine (2-9) with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Lavar Harewood hit four 3-pointers and Kevin Little also tossed in 12 points.
Aaron Calixte finished with 11 points and Till Gloger posted 10 for the Black Bears, while senior Shaun Lawton handed out a game-high eight assists to go with eight points and four rebounds.
UMaine shot a healthy 47 percent from the field (30-for-64) and went 10-for-26 (39 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc, but the visitors attempted only eight free throws, hitting five.
Both teams were marred by turnovers as Holy Cross committed 24 and UMaine made 23 miscues.
Malachai Alexander’s layup with 11:25 remaining gave the Crusaders a 58-45 lead, but the Black Bears responded.
UMaine manufactured a 14-3 run that included two 3-pointers by Harewood, a dunk and a foul shot by Devine Eke, layups by Calixte and Lawton and a Reid-Knight free throw that cut the deficit to 61-59 with 6:08 to play.
However, Holy Cross held on and maintained the upper hand through a hard-fought final portion of the contest.
UMaine had two chances in the final 33 seconds to tie the game or take the lead. However, Lawton was called for traveling with 33 seconds to play, which led to a Champion foul shot that made it 71-69.
Then, Reid-Knight was whistled for a player-control foul and the Black Bears fouled Champion, who made two from the line to make it a four-point game.
Calixte drove in for a finger roll with 6.8 seconds left to make it 73-71, then Champion and Lawton traded free throws after Lawton’s attempted intentional miss failed to hit the rim.
Husek was fouled with 3.2 ticks left and made both ends of the double bonus, which offset Calixte’s 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining.