Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, February 2, 2015: American at Holy Cross

American at Holy Cross, 7:30 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

We return again to the Patriot League for tonight’s UTR Game of the Day as the American Eagles, who at one point looked like they were ready to make a move towards the top of the conference standings, travel to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on the school that won the 1947 national championship, the Holy Cross Crusaders.

American enters tonight’s game at 11-10 overall and 4-5 in Patriot League play.  They sit half a game behind the four way tie for third place in the conference standings and are looking to move up into that tie tonight.  The Eagles are also looking to break out of a three game losing streak.  To get the win, the Eagles will need a big game from Jesse Reed.  Reed had his streak of 13 straight games in doudle-digit scoring snapped last time out with only 9 points against Navy.  Another subpar performance tonight will not be enough for the Eagles to pick up the road victory.

The Crusaders enter tonight’s game at 8-11 overall but only 3-6 in Patriot League play.  A loss will leave them all alone in 10th place in the conerence standing, while a win will put them right back into the jumbled up conference race, tied for last but only 3 games out of first.  Holy Cross began the season with a very surprising win over preseason nationally ranked Harvard, but failed to build on that success, suffering losses to the likes of Sacred Heart, Hartford, Canisuis and lowly Pittsburgh.  Malcolm Miller and Justin Burrell have been the team’s leaders so far this season, though Burrell was held scoreless by Loyola last time out and needs to play a lot better than that tonight.  If the two of them can lead the Crusaders to a victory, there is no reason why, given the parity in the Patriot League this season, the Crusaders will not be able to remain as much in contention in this conference as anyone else.