Belmont Abbey Men's Basketball Loses at Coker, 72-64

The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team fell at Coker 72-64 this evening in Hartsville. The Crusaders drop to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in Conference Carolinas, while Coker improves to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in Conference Carolinas. The seven point margin of defeat is the larges margin in an Abbey game, win or loss, this year. The Crusaders five games have been decided by 21 points. Abbey senior guard Richard Barbee scored 11 points to move into a tie for tenth on the school's all-time points list with 1,546.

In the first half the Crusaders never led and trailed by as many as 18 points before rallying to tie the game at 33 at the half. Down 29-11 with 9:03 left, the Crusaders began to chip away at the Cobras lead, closing the half on a 22-4 run over the final nine minutes to tie the game at 33. Tyshawn Good scored eight of his 11 points in the run, as the Abbey held Coker to just one field goal and two free throws over the final nine minutes of the half. Good deadlocked the game at 33 with two free throws with 1:55 left to cap the Abbey's comeback. The two teams combined to miss five shots in the last 1:40 as the two teams went into the break tied at 33.

Both teams opened the second half with baskets, as Coker scored first followed by two Abbey jumpers, the second of which coming on a layup from Jay Council to give the Abbey its first lead of the game at 37-36 with just 1:11 gone by.

28 seconds later, Coker would regain the lead and would build it to as high as five points over the next minute and a half before a 6-2 Abbey run, capped off by a Terrone Sheffey three-pointer with 14:34 left pushed the Crusaders back ahead at 45-44.

Both teams traded baskets before the Abbey regained the lead again and moved it to as high as three points before Coker cut the lead down to one and then moved ahead on a jumper from Liam Kyle to put the Cobras ahead 52-51 with 8:37 to play.

The Abbey again had an answer, pulling away on a 9-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to go up 61-54 with 5:43 to play. Sheffey capped the run with another three pointer, but Coker cancelled that with two three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Jonathon Gardner to slice the Abbey lead to one at 61-60 with 3:39 left.

One minute later, Barbee put the Abbey up by three with a layup, but a Tom Wright three-pointer on Coker's next trip down the floor knotted the game at 63 with 2:20 to play.
Coker would not relinquish the lead again as Wright sank a running layup with 2:00 left to put the Cobras ahead to stay. With 1:05 left Darryl Durham hit the second of two free throws to pull the Abbey within three, but the Cobras sank five of six free throws in the final 44 seconds to pull away with the win.

Belmont Abbey shot 42.1 percent (24-57) from the floor as Sheffey led the way with 14 points. Barbee and Good chipped in with 11. Good's 11 points came in the first half. Kyle Phillips added nine and Durham finished with seven. Phillips missed a double double by one point as he grabbed ten rebounds.

Coker shot 57.7 percent (26-52) as Wright led all scorers with 17 points, while Kyle finished with 16. Delonte Doles added 15.