Crusaders must cross their fingers

WORCESTER -- They are 24-6. They won 16 games in a row. They won more road games than almost any other team in the country. They took Boston College into overtime -- at The Heights. The ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll ranked them 28th in the nation, and their RPI topped out at 31 last week.

But now the Holy Cross Crusaders are on the proverbial NCAA bubble, needing mercy from the members of the selection committee who convene in Indianapolis this weekend.

All the air was sucked out of the Hart Center atop Mount Saint James last night when Bucknell (22-9, with major help from Peabody's own Kevin Bettencourt) walked off the floor with a 61-57 Patriot League tournament championship win at the expense of the Crusaders. The loss snapped Holy Cross's winning streak, which was the third-longest in the nation.

"I might write the committee a letter on my own," offered junior guard Kevin Hamilton, who scored 21 points and led the Cross back from a 20-point deficit in the second half. "I would promise them we'd make a good showing. I just wish they could come see one of our practices."

Alas, the selection committee is more likely to consider the unfortunate record of the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament. The league has never won a game. Patriot League champions are 0-14 since they were granted an automatic bid in 1991. This does not bode well for coach Ralph Willard's team. It's hard to imagine the committee granting a second slot to a mid-major conference that has never won a tournament game. Maybe Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, and Togo Palazzi should write to the committee. A call from Clarence Thomas probably wouldn't hurt, either.

"I just don't know now," said Willard. "If we won today, we had a chance for a pretty good seed. But I never told our kids this game was do or die. Now we wait. This is the tough part of being a mid-major."

Willard said there will be no formal team gathering to watch the selection show on television tomorrow night. We won't be seeing a live telecast of the Crusaders gathered around the big screen at the Hogan Campus Center, waiting to see where the committee sends them. The players and coach will meet for a private dinner and, in the words of Willard, "see what happens."

The Holy Cross women's team earned an NCAA berth by beating Colgate, 79-70, and expects a 16 seed and a trip to an exotic outpost. The women's team cheered the Crusader men from behind the basket during yesterday's rugged loss.

Willard's charges were thoroughly outplayed in the first half. Holy Cross made only 6 of 28 shots in the first 20 minutes while Bucknell made 14 of 23, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. The Cross trailed, 38-20, at the half and it was 47-27 with a little more than 15 minutes to play when the Crusaders launched their furious comeback.

Hamilton was all over the place as Holy Cross roared back. He stole the ball three times in the last three minutes, but was hit with a cheesy charging call after the third theft. He had a chance to tie it with nine seconds left, but a fallaway from 12 feet near the right baseline clanged off the rim.

"It felt good when it left my hand," said the low-talking junior.

If the Crusaders are dissed by the NCAA committee, Hamilton will have another chance to get to the Big Dance next year. The same can't be said for Holy Cross seniors Nate Lufkin, Greg Kinsey, John Hurley, Michael Smiley, and Dan Brault.

Hurley, a senior cocaptain from South Boston (Thayer Academy), shook his head when asked about the Crusaders' NCAA prospects and said, "I'm not sure. History hasn't been on our side. I wish I could sit in on that committee."

Too bad. For all of its proud tradition, Holy Cross has not won an NCAA Tournament game in 52 years. It won the national championship when Cousy was a freshman in 1947, but the last Crusader win was a 79-71 beating of Wake Forest in 1953. That's when Heinsohn was a sophomore.

With Willard on the sideline, the Crusaders threw scares into Kentucky, then Kansas, then Marquette in 2001, 2002, and 2003. This year they thought they had a chance to get a 12 seed, carry a 17-game winning streak into the tourney, and pull off an upset.

Now they wait and worry. And the Patriot League is not their friend. It feels like it got away.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.