Casual college basketball fans will not care about this story. In fact, most are probably unaware. When these fans see 14-19 overall Holy Cross against a #1 seed in the tournament, they will be quick to write them off.
However, they won’t see what happened for the Crusaders to write their name down in that slot—and yes, it is a wild story.
The team struggled through non-conference play, facing a schedule that was the second toughest in the nation at one point.
They finished 5-6, a less than respectable record, and not one that is going to get them into the NCAA Tournament on an at-large bid.
It looked even grimmer after the conference season, finishing 5-13 and without a single road win. The Crusaders entered the Patriot League Tournament as the ninth seed, having to in fact go on the road in the first, and every ensuing round.*
It looked nearly impossible, but is that not what makes a great Cinderella?
The team opened with a five-point win on the road against the 8th seeded Loyola, only to get a trip to #1 Bucknell as a reward. They took it with a grin.
Malachi Alexander lead the team with 20 points and 8 rebounds leading the Crusaders to a double-overtime victory for their second straight road victory.
Next up was Army, the fourth seed, who could not get anything going at all. In fact, the Holy Cross defense only allowed 12 points in the second half. Robert Champion led the team with 15 points as Holy Cross cruised to a 22-point win.
And just like that, Holy Cross is making a trip to the Championship game as the ninth seed in the Conference.
The task? Beat #2 Lehigh in front of a packed arena of enemy supporters to earn a trip to the big dance.
The pressure was there, and the pressure was handled. Holy Cross went into halftime with a 25-14 lead, picking up right where they left off on the defensive end.
The teams traded gut-punching three pointers, but the Crusader’s first half work looked as though it would be too much for Lehigh to handle.
The Mountain Hawks closed the deficit to just three points with just shy of 20 seconds to play. However, destiny was on the Crusader’s side.
Lehigh missed four game-tying three pointers, essentially ending their season and prolonging what might be the most underrated cinderella story of all time.
Who’s to stay it won’t continue next week?
*The Patriot League does not have a neutral site for their conference tournament, in turn playing games at the higher seed’s home arena.
