Massachusetts 83, Holy Cross 76

Published Nov. 27, 2010 5:57 p.m. ET

foxsports

Anthony Gurley scored 24 points and three other players reached double figures as Massachusetts held off a big Holy Cross rally in the second half to win 83-76 on Saturday.

UMass built a 70-46 lead with 8:21 to play before Holy Cross went on an 11-0 run that started a 28-8 surge to cut the lead to 78-74 with 31 seconds remaining. UMass made 5 of 6 free throw attempts the rest of the way to secure the win and its first 6-0 start since the 1995-96 season.

Freddie Riley added 17 points, Sampson Carter had 14 and Sean Carter had 12 for UMass.

It was the third straight win for UMass over Holy Cross.

Devin Brown led Holy Cross (0-5) with 18 points, including 11 points in the final 8 minutes. He made all 11 of his free throw attempts for the game. Andrew Keister had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Mike Cavataio had 13 points and R.J. Evans 11 for the Crusaders.