The Holy Cross men’s basketball team took the 74-69 win over St. Ambrose Fighting Bees this past Saturday. With the victory, the Saints improved to 5-4 and captured their first victory in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play ahead of a four-game homestand that will wrap up the 2024 calendar year.
The Saints scored first in the first half thanks to senior guard Phil Robles II, but the Fighting Bees were quick to respond as they added on a layup of their own. Despite this, a jump shot and a layup from sophomore forward Aris Duni, a three-point shot and a jump shot from Robles and a three-point shot from sophomore guard Joey Garwood brought the score to 14-2 Holy Cross.
After a shooting foul on the Saints, St. Ambrose put two more points on the board, but the Saints responded as senior guard Justin O’Neal added on a layup and a free throw and junior guard AJ Roseman put in two free throws to bring the score to 19-4. After a seven-point run from the Fighting Bees to bring the score to 19-11, the Saints answered as Garwood put in a jump shot to bring the score to 21-11.
Saint Ambrose added five more points before committing a shooting foul, allowing the Saints to add on two points for themselves to bring the score to 23-16. After going back and forth, St. Ambrose added on two points, but the Saints quickly responded by putting up three points thanks to senior guard Nash Hostetler to make the score 26-18. St. Ambrose closed the gap to 26-24 after scoring six points, but a layup from Roseman and a three-point shot from Robles brought the score to 31-24.
The Fighting Bees added on five more points before the Saints responded with two free throws made by Robles to bring the score to 33-29. After a shooting foul committed by the Saints, the Fighting Bees tacked on another point, but Holy Cross rounded out the first half as Robles put in a jump shot to bring the score to 35-30 at halftime.
The Saints started out the second half strong with Garwood adding on a layup to bring the score to 37-30. St. Ambrose responded with a jump shot of its own, but Holy Cross wasted no time to respond as Hostetler added on a layup to bring the score to 39-32. It became a three-point game as St. Ambrose added on four more points, but a three-point shot from Garwood kept the Saints ahead 42-36.
The Fighting Bees added three more points for themselves before a shooting foul allowed O’Neal to put in two free throws for the Saints and bring the score to 44-39. After another two points from the Fighting Bees, Garwood added two layups, O’Neal added on a jump shot and a free throw and Robles added on a jump shot to bring the score to 53-41. St. Ambrose added a layup, but Garwood responded with one of his own. St. Ambrose then went on to put in two free throws and a jump shot, but after committing a shooting foul, freshman forward Davide Brembilla added a free throw and Garwood made a jump shot to make the score 58-47.
St. Ambrose went on another seven-point run to bring the score to 58-54, but Hostetler responded quickly as he put in a three-point shot for the Saints to bring the score to 61-54. The Fighting Bees responded with a layup of their own before Roseman answered, only for St. Ambrose to strike again for two to bring the score to 63-59. Another layup by St. Ambrose was quickly followed by one from O’Neal, but a shooting foul on the Saints allowed the Fighting Bees to add two more points and make the score 67-63 in favor of Holy Cross.
Garwood added on another jumpshot for the Saints to bring the score to 69-63, but St. Ambrose quickly followed with a free throw. Robles put in a three-point shot to make the score 72-64, but St. Ambrose came back with one of its own. After a shooting foul, Roseman added two free throws to make the score 74-67. While the Fighting Bees made the final layup of the game, the Saints finished with a 74-69 win.
Garwood led on the court for the Saints as he finished with 20 points, and Robles followed closely as he finished with 19. The Saints improved to 4-5 on the season and now prepare to host Taylor on Dec. 11, starting at 7:30 p.m.
