Quick take: Holy Cross battles, but Sacred Heart boys come away with win

If you listened to Friday night’s Sacred Heart-Holy Cross boys game on WATR AM 1320, or followed along on The Zone’s live blog, you were treated to a great game.
Sacred Heart won 77-65 in the friendly confines of Alumni Hall, but Holy Cross made sure it wasn’t easy by any stretch.
The Crusaders led — that’s right led — the Hearts 16-14 after one quarter. A Justin Strielkauskas 3-pointer at the halftime horn put Cross’ deficit at 40-35. That’s the closest half Sacred Heart has seen in the NVL this season.
The Crusaders had a chance to get closer at the end of the third quarter, but a Mustapha Heron steal led to a Tyrn Flowers jam and a 60-54 Hearts lead entering the final eight minutes. 
At one point in the fourth quarter, reserve Courie Stevenson gave Sacred Heart its biggest lead of the game at nine points with a 3. It was just the second three made by the Hearts, with the other coming from Charles Fisher. Later in the quarter, Flowers returned the favor for Heron when he found him on a fast break for a dunk and a 67-56 lead. Holy Cross kept battling, but Sacred Heart had enough to pull away.
It was a GREAT effort by the Crusaders, but the Hearts remain undefeated in the NVL.
Heron led Sacred Heart with 23 points, though most of that came near the basket or at the foul line (he had a bad night shooting). Flowers ended up with 18 points while Raheem Solomon and J.T. Riddick hit for 10 points each.
Strielkauskas led Holy Cross with 14 points. Jonathan Mowatt scored 11 points while Dyllan Tyson added 10 points.
The Hearts improved to 12-2 while the Crusaders dropped to 10-3. Sacred Heart plays at Kennedy next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Holy Cross is on the road at Wilby next Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.