Second Half Run Leads Belmont Abbey Men's Basketball Past Johnson C. Smith, 62-56

The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team held Johnson C. Smith to just 22 second half points after trailing 34-32 at the half as the Crusaders used a second-half spurt to earn a 62-56 win over the Golden Bulls this evening in Charlotte. The Abbey improves to 4-3, while JCSU falls to 2-4.

Johnson C. Smith controlled the first half as it sank half of its shots (16-32) to just 13-33 for the Abbey, but in the second half the roles were reversed as the Abbey hit 50 percent of it its shots (13-26) and held the Golden Bulls to a 33.3 percent (8-24) output. The Crusaders took command halfway through the second half, as two free throws from Tyshawn Good tied the contest at 46, and a layup from Darryl Durham gave the Crusaders a 48-46 lead that they would never relinquish.

After a Delonte Boyd free throw trimmed the Abbey lead to one at 48-47, the Crusaders ran out on an 11-5 run over the next four and a half minutes to build their lead to seven points. The run was fueled by jumpers from Jay Council, Kyle Phillips and Good and it was punctuated by a three-pointer from Terrone Sheffey to put the Abbey ahead 59-52 with 5:18 to play.

The Bulls would score the next four points on a free throw from Boyd and a three-pointer from Trevin Parks, which came with 1:03 left to cut the Abbey edge to 59-56, but JCSU would not score again.

With 50 seconds left, Parks let fly a three that was blocked by Council and rebounded by Richard Barbee. After an Abbey timeout and turnover, Phillips fouled Boyd, who missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 ticks left. Ian Parry grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled, where he hit the first. He missed the second, but Phillips collected the rebound and his ensuing putback pushed the Crusader lead to five at 62-56. Neither team scored again as the Abbey earned the win.

Barbee led all scorers with 18 points, 12 in the first half, on seven of 14 shooting from the field, with six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in 39 minutes. His 18 points moves him into sole possession of ninth place on the school's all-time scoring list. Phillips added 15 points on seven of 11 shooting with five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Sheffey chipped in with ten points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Crusaders shot 44.1 percent (26-59) from the floor and won the rebounding battle 39-29.

Johnson C. Smith shot 42.9 percent (24-56) as Parks led the Golden Bulls with 16 points. Ronald Thornhill added 11 points, and Michael Cooper and Boyd both finished with ten each.