'Saders press Albany for win; Holy Cross solid in 2nd.

• Position: SPORTS

Holy Cross' Bill Gibbons has coached in many basketball games during his illustrious career, but what he saw in the first half of yesterday's game against Albany wasn't to his liking.

Trailing by seven points at the half, the Crusaders awoke from their funk in the second half to sneak by Albany, 61-54, in the LaGuardia Turkey Classic in Brooklyn N.Y.

"It was maybe the worst half of basketball in my 23 years of coaching," Gibbons said. "We just didn't execute. It was just one of those halves."

Holy Cross (3-2) advanced to the title game and will take on Long Island University at 4 p.m. today.

After a first half that saw the Crusaders commit 19 turnovers and shoot only 32.1 percent from the floor, Gibbons challenged his team to play Holy Cross basketball and elected to go with the 2-2-1 press, which the Crusaders hadn't used all season long.

The move worked to perfection as the Crusaders pestered Albany into several turnovers, while also shooting an impressive 52.2 percent from the floor in the second half.

"I challenged them," Gibbons said. "I felt we needed something to change our luck."

Backed by the outstanding play from sophomore guard Briana McFadden (career-high 28 points)...