Hamilton, NY — Jave Meade made the first of two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Holy Cross College (18-4, PL 8-1) to a 92-91 win over Â鶹¾«Æ· (9-13, PL 4-5) in a Patriot League game Wednesday night at Cotterell Court.
Holy Cross remains in first place in the Patriot League while Â鶹¾«Æ· is tied for fifth place with Bucknell.
Â鶹¾«Æ· had tied the contest 91-91 on 3-pointer from the corner with seven seconds left, and he was fouled on the shot. Blue missed the foul shot to prevent the Raiders from taking the lead.
Junior paced Â鶹¾«Æ· with a career-high 35 points, the most by a Raider since the 1996-97 season when Adonal Foyle scored 37 against Siena College. Blue finished with 17 points and added 16 points and six rebounds.
After Â鶹¾«Æ· scored the opening basket of the game, Holy Cross went ahead on Brian Wilson’s 3-pointer and move out to a 42-35 halftime advantage. In the second half, the visitors led by as many as 11 points with 7:49 remaining, 69-58.
Linebaugh scored 10 of the next 12 Â鶹¾«Æ· points to bring the Raiders to within one point, 71-70, with 4:51 left. Holy Cross continued to lead until Linebaugh made two free throws with four seconds remaining to send the contest into overtime.
Linebaugh finished the contest by scoring eight of Â鶹¾«Æ·â€™s 13 points in overtime.
Â鶹¾«Æ· shot 61 percent from the field, while Holy Cross made 53 percent. The Crusaders won the battle of the boards, 33-26, led by Patrick Whearty with 12.
GAME NOTES: Linebaugh’s 35 points moved him into 24th place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 914 points ‘ Blue scored his 800th career point ‘ Â鶹¾«Æ· equaled its season-high for 3-pointers with 10-of-17 ‘ Linebaugh made 5-of-7 from behind the arc … The Raiders’ 91-point effort was the best effort this season against Holy Cross. The Crusaders entered the game surrendering only 58.3 points per game, the third-best mark in the nation.