The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team grabbed a 47-28 lead at the half and held onto that lead for the entire second half after Anderson cut the margin to one as the Crusaders improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Conference Carolinas with a 73-69 win over the visiting Trojans this evening. Anderson falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in Conference Carolinas.

Belmont Abbey shot 51.6 percent (16-31) from the floor in the opening stanza but cooled to a 28.6 percent effort (8-28) in the second half as it finished with a 40.7 percent output (24-59) for the game. Senior guard Jonathan Jackson led four Crusaders in double figures with 19 points. He also had four assists, one blocked shot and three steals. Kyle Phillips added 15 points, none bigger than the putback with 30 seconds left that extended the Abbey's lead to four points. He added seven rebounds. Richard Barbee finished with 13 points, eight rebounds two assists and a steal.

Anderson shot 49.1 percent (26-53) from the field, including a blistering 57.7 percent effort (15-26) in the second half as Belmont product Brandon Young led all scorers with 22 points. Jamelle Lowery added 13 points on 5-7 shooting, while Stephen Cobb finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and an assist. Trey Britton posted a double double with ten points and a game-high ten rebounds. He also had three blocked shots and a steal.