WORCESTER, Mass. – November 8, 2022 – The Dean College men's basketball team played an exhibition game at Division I Holy Cross on Thursday evening. The Crusaders, who play in the Patriot League, came away with an 85-71 victory.

BOX SCORE

Dean (1-0) resumes action on the road on Saturday with a 5 p.m. game at Bridgewater State.  

Junior AJ Weston (Kansas City, Mo.) led the Bulldogs with 22 points. He made 4-of-8 from deep. Juniors Nick Grant (Houston, Texas) and Malik Spearman (St. Paul, Minn.) added 10 points apiece. Spearman also grabbed eight rebounds, while Grant picked up four steals.

Holy Cross received a game best 24 points from Will Batchelder. Gerrale Gates added 18 points and eight rebounds. Caleb Kenney pulled down a game-high nine boards to go with five blocks.

A layup by Greenleaf, 2:36 into the contest, gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. After the Crusaders took a 9-8 lead at the 14:32 mark, Dean went on a 9-4 run, capped by a Ruffin trey, to take a 17-13 lead at the second media timeout (11:12).

The Bulldogs later held a 19-18 advantage, but Holy Cross scored the next three points to lead 21-19 at the under eight timeout (7:58).

A Dorien Ruffin (Pinetops, N.C.) three-pointer put Dean in front 22-21, before the Crusaders answered with a pair of long balls to force a Bulldogs timeout trailing 27-22 with 5:11 to play in the half.

The Crusaders had a late push with multiple three-pointers and several free throws to take a 44-33 lead after 20 minutes of action.

Spearman had 10 points, while Ruffin score eight to lead the Bulldogs in the first half. Batchelder poured in 19 points thanks to 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for the home team.

Holy Cross made just one more basket than the Bulldogs in the first but went 7-of-10 from three-point land and 9-of-15 at the free throw line. The Bulldogs shot 38.2% (13-34) from the floor, while the Crusaders made 48.3% (14-29).

The first half featured eight lead changes. Dean led for 6:02, while Holy Cross was on top for 11:59.

Holy Cross scored the first five points of the second half to match its largest lead of 16 points. Dean chipped away and pulled withing 54-46 after a personal 5-0 run by Grant, forcing a Crusaders timeout with 14:21 on the clock.

The Bulldogs remained within striking distance at the third media timeout with 6:46 to play, trailing 68-56. Weston sandwiched a pair of threes around a Holy Cross jumper to keep Dean close.

The teams seesawed over the next few minutes with Gates of Holy Cross and Weston of Dean trading makes, Gates inside and Weston from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs trailed 78-67 with 2:55 left to play.

Holy Cross ended the contest on a 7-4 run to come away with the 85-71 victory.

Dean made 26-of-72 from the floor (36.1%) and 8-of-15 from beyond the arc (53.3%), while Holy Cross shot 53.3% (32-60) from the field and made 10-of-20 three-pointers. Each team finished the game 11-19 from the free throw line.

Dean outrebounded Holy Cross 42-39. Each team had seven fast-break points and 11 steals.