Nov. 29, 2006
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Yale did a good job containing Holy Cross's top three scorers on Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs didn't have an answer for unheralded guard Pat Doherty. Doherty made 5 of 6 field goals, including all four of his three-point attempts, and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line en route to scoring a career-high 18 points as the Crusaders edged Yale 63-58 before 1,028 at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.
Doherty, who entered the game averaging only 5.2 points and shooting just 3-for-18 from beyond the arc, scored 12 of his points in the second half. His first trey after the intermission came when Bulldogs had cut an eight-point halftime deficit to four, and his final three-pointer made it a nine-point game, 54-45, with 4:01 left. Doherty then sank four free throws in the final 38 seconds to seal the victory.
Eric Flato and Ross Morin paced the Bulldogs with 13 points each. Morin was 6 of 9 from the field and added four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Casey Hughes scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds, and Matt Kyle had six points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Keith Simmons, who came into the game averaging nearly 19 points, scored 12 for the Crusaders, who at 6-1 are off to their best start since 1989-90. Holy Cross's other double figure scorers, Tim Clifford and Torey Thomas, were both held to eight points. Alex Vander Baan had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Yale (1-4) shot just 36 percent from the field in the first half and trailed 28-20 at the intermission. The Crusaders led 32-22 with 17 minutes left, but the Bulldogs went on a 14-5 run, capped by a Travis Pinick layup, to pull within 37-36.
Holy Cross, though, stretched the lead back to eight on a Doherty layup and led by nine on Doherty's last three-pointer. Yale made one last run, pulling to within 56-52 on Sam Kaplan's layup with 1:30 left.
Vander Baan then missed a three-pointer, but Simmons tapped the rebound to Torey Thomas, who was fouled. Thomas made one of two free throws, and Clifford blocked a Pinick shot on Yale's next possession. Doherty then made two free throws with 38 seconds left to make it 59-52.
Yale shot 59.1 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Crusaders 31-25 in the game.
"We got some pretty good shots when we worked our offense," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "We hurt ourselves at the beginning of the game. We had opportunities at the basket but we didn't take advantage."
The Bulldogs are back in action on Saturday when they play at Wagner at 2 p.m.
"Right now we need to focus on getting better," Morin said. "Losing is always frustrating, and it wears on you. We're all ready to work for a change."
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publioity
Video Highlights:
- Flato steals one and then races down the court for the lay-up to end Holy Cross's 12-1 run
- Morin tips in a C. Holmes miss
- Hughes sprints down the court on a Crusader fast break to come up with the block
- Kaplan hits the jumper to pull Yale to within six
- Kyle scores on consecutive plays, first with the dunk and then with the lay-up
- Kyle comes up with the 2nd of his 2 blocks on the night as he swats it away from Torey Thomas
- Flato hits a jumper
- Off a feed from Kaplan, Morin goes up and puts away a reverse lay-up
- Pinick's jumper makes it a one-point game with just under 11 minutes to go
- Kyle dunks a missed jumper to get Yale within four
- Hughes hits a jumper to make it 43-40 with eight minutes left
- Morin hits a fadeaway jumper
- J. Jones, Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach, on the game
- Morin on his return from an injury earlier in the season
