Men's basketball - Fairleigh Dickinson 87, Holy Cross 76: Crusaders can't hold late lead vs. Knights

TEANECK, N.J. — Freshman guard Caleb Green scored a career-high 22, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, 87-76, Wednesday afternoon at Stratis Arena at the Rothman Center.

Green connected on 8 of 14 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, and has scored in double figures in all four games this season.

Darnell Edge scored 12 of his 23 points during a late run in the second half to lead the Knights (3-2).

Holy Cross led, 65-62, with about five minutes left, but Edge then made a 3-pointer to spark a 21-9 run, and the Knights led, 83-74, with 1:17 remaining. Edge made two 3-pointers, four free throws and a layup during the stretch.

The Crusaders would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, as the Knights eventually pulled away for an 11-point victory.

Junior forward Karl Charles added 17 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals, while junior forward Jehyve Floyd chipped in 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks for the Crusaders (2-2).

Edge was 7 of 12 from the floor and made four 3-pointers. Darian Anderson added 17 points and Mike Holloway Jr. had 16 for Fairleigh Dickinson, which shot 57 percent, but just 19 of 30 (63 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Knights shot well, hitting 40 percent of their 3-pointers, in addition to rebounding the Crusaders, 37-27.

Holy Cross was able to make 48.3 percent of its shots from the floor and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.

The game was close throughout a first half, which featured two ties and nine lead changes. Fairleigh Dickinson led, 27-26, with four minutes left before the break when the Crusaders went on a 10-2 run to pull in front, 36-29.

But the Knights responded with an 8-0 spurt to close out the half and held a 37-36 advantage heading into the locker room. Holy Cross opened the second half with a 5-0 run to pull back in front, and held on to a small lead for the next several minutes.

Junior guard Patrick Benzan finished with a career-high six steals for Holy Cross.

Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Albany at 1:05 p.m.