Holy Cross men's basketball struggles in second half, falls at Quinnipiac, 76-68

HAMDEN, Conn. — After taking a five-point halftime lead, Holy Cross went cold in the final 10 minutes, and Quinnipiac took advantage while posting a 76-68 victory Monday night at People's United Center.

Former Worcester Academy standout Judson Martindale led the Crusaders (1-2) with 15 points and five rebounds, and Kyrell Luc had 14 points with five boards.

Kevin Marfo, another former Worcester Academy star, had 14 rebounds and seven assists to go with his 12 points for the Bobcats (2-1). Tymu Chenery had 14 points and Dezi Jones 13 for Quinnipiac of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Holy Cross shot only 31 percent (9 of 29) for the second half after connecting on half its shots (16 of 32) before halftime. Malcolm Townsel and DaJion Humphrey each added 12 for HC.

The Crusaders emerged from a tightly contested first half with a 43-38 lead. The teams were tied at 30 with seven minutes left before Martindale and Humphrey drilled 3-pointers for a six-point lead.

Luc, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week, gave HC its biggest lead of the half at 42-34 with a trey with 1:46 left.

Martindale entered halftime with 10 points, hitting both of his 3-pointer attempts, with Humphrey and Townsel each scoring eight.

Holy Cross led by seven points, in the opening minute of the second half until Chenery and Marfo connected from behind the arc, and a Jones layup gave Quinnipiac a 46-45 edge with 18:04 on the clock.

This was the beginning of a drought in which the Crusaders scored just four points over more than nine minutes. When HC called a timeout with 10:16 left, the Bobcats led, 58-49, having outscored the Crusaders, 20-4, since that first minute of the half.

Luc stemmed the drought with a 3 off the timeout, and two Humphrey free throws with 8:35 to play pulled HC to within four. Luc hit a trey with 8:01 left, and the Crusaders only trailed, 59-58.

Despite hitting on only 7 of 23 from the field over the first 16 minutes of the second half, Holy Cross remained within striking distance, then Tyrese Williams drilled a 3 off a Marfo feed for a 67-61 Quinnipiac lead.

Two Martindale free throws left the score 69-66 with 1:51 left, but Marfo countered with two from the stripe to restore the Bobcats' five-point lead.

After Luc missed a jumper with 1:22 left, Marfo came down with his 12th rebound. Jones missed a layup, but Savion Lewis emerged with the offensive board. Chenery added a free throw following a Humphrey foul for a 72-66 lead.

The Crusaders next head to Daytona Beach, Florida, for this weekend's Sunshine Slam. They'll take on Air Force at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and face host Bethune-Cookman or Bryant on Sunday. Friday night's loss at Boston College was part of the Sunshine Slam.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross men's basketball, struggle in second half, Quinnipiac, Judson Martindale