Leading 37-35 at the half, the Belmont Abbey men's basketball team outscored Queens 45-26 in the second stanza as the Crusaders posted its second-largest margin of victory over the Royals with an 82-61 win this evening at the Wheeler Center. The Abbey, winners of three-straight and six of its last seven, improve to 14-9 overall and 12-4 in Conference Carolinas, while the Royals slip to 14-7 overall and 9-5 in Conference Carolinas.

The Crusaders only trailed twice in the game and by no more than a point and not after the 12:11 mark of the first half as it scored the game's first seven points. The Abbey led by as many as nine points, but a Queens run, capped off by a buzzer beater by Patrick Fox, cut the lead to 37-35 at the half.

The Abbey responded by scoring the first ten points of the second half as it built its lead to 12 points at 47-35 with just under four minutes gone by. The Royals would close to within six points at 57-51 with 9:35 left, but the Crusaders answered with a 23-5 run capped off by a Jonathan Jackson NBA-length three-pointer with one second left on the shot clock followed by a running layup to seal the win.

The Crusaders shot 54.9 percent (28-51) from the floor as freshman guard Richard Barbee led four players in double figures with 22 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor. He also sank 11 of 12 free throw attempts, while dishing out a pair of assists. Chad Patus added 20 points on 7-10 shooting, while Deonte Murphy finished with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ric Marczenko contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Queens was led by John Thompson's 17 points as the Royals shot 38.6 percent (22-57) from the floor.

The Abbey is back in action Wednesday night when it hosts Anderson at 7:30 p.m.