Tuesday night in Gentilly, the Purple Knights took a commanding lead in the District 9-5A title race with a 66-60 win over the Crusaders. The Crusaders (19-8, 4-3) were coming off a win against Jesuit last Friday and a win Tuesday would have created a tie for first place between Brother Martin and St. Augustine.
Brother Martin opened the game with a 3-point play under the hoop by Irv Smith who was fouled and sunk his free throw, but the Crusaders struggled the rest of the quarter and fell behind 15-8.
The Crusaders continued to fight throughout but wouldn’t threaten the lead until the final eight minutes of play.
Brother Martin went on a 17-6 run to trim the St. Augustine lead, but the Crusaders came up short.
The Crusaders return to action on Friday against the Rummel Raiders. Tip-off is set for 7:15 pm at Rummel.
