Belmont Abbey junior guard Richard Barbee tied for the game high with 23 points, 14 coming in the second half, and senior forward Chad Patus added a double double with 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Crusaders earned their third-straight win in Misenheimer with an 89-83 win at Pfeiffer this evening. The Abbey, which picked up its second road win, moves to 6-5 overall and 2-3 in Conference Carolinas, while the Falcons fall to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in Conference Carolinas.

Barbee and Patus were among four Crusaders in double figures, as senior guard Patrick Kuhlman added 16 points and sophomore forward Kyle Phillips added 14 on seven of ten shooting to go along with three blocked shots. Patus posted a double double with a game-high 14 rebounds; he was the only player to record more than nine.

Kuhlman posted 16 points on three of four shooting from the field, all from three-point range, while dishing out seven assists. Barbee sank nine of 15 field goal attempts. 12 of Patus's 20 points came from the free throw line, where he converted 12 on 17 attempts along with a four for six effort from the field. Belmont Abbey shot 53 percent from the floor and limited the Falcons to a 41 percent output.

Pfeiffer was led by James Crowder's 23 points, while Jeff Pettiway posted 14. Crowder grabbed nine rebounds and collected one steal. Pettiway led all players with four steals.

In an explosive first half in which there were five ties and 11 lead changes, Patus led all scorers with 15 points and six rebounds on four of five shooting from the field and seven of nine from the free throw line. Barbee added nine points on three of eight shooting.

With Pfeifer holding a 25-21 lead with 7:16 left in the stanza, the Crusaders exploded on a 12-0 run to take the biggest lead of the half for either team, seven points, at 32-25 with 5:23 left. The Falcons responded with a run of its own, an 11-3 flurry over the next five minutes to claim the lead for the eighth time at 36-35 with 2:02 remaining.

That lead lasted for 18 seconds as Kuhlman drilled a three-pointer with 1:44 left, but Pfeiffer's Pettiway drilled a three-pointer with 27 ticks left to give Pfeiffer the edge at 39-38. Patus closed the half with two free throws with 17 seconds remaining to push the Abbey ahead 40-39 at the break.

Pfeiffer opened the half by scoring the first three baskets of the half to open up a five point lead. It would hold that lead, which never rose higher than seven points, for the first 14:30 of the second half before the Abbey began to chip away at the lead.

With the Abbey trailing 66-60 with 8:23 left, the Abbey exploded on a 12-5 run over 2:57 to grab a one point lead with 5:30 left. A Patus free throw, followed by a Kuhlman three, closed the lead to two. A Crowder trifecta moved the Falcon lead back to five, but the Crusaders countered with a traditional three-point play by Barbee to trim the lead to a pair. Pfeiffer moved the lead back to a pair with a bucket by Davon Gilliard, but a Phillips layup and a three by Barbee gave the Abbey a one point lead at 72-71 with 5:30 left.

Both teams traded baskets, and Pfeiffer regained the lead at 76-74 with a three-point play by Josh Humphrey with 3:35 left, but it would never hold the lead again.

12 seconds later, Phillips deadlocked the game at 76 with a layup and Barbee gave the Crusaders the lead for good with a short jumper at the 2:19 mark. He pushed the lead to four with a layup 21 seconds later. Pfeiffer cut the Abbey cushion to a pair at 80-78 with 1:53 remaining, but the Crusaders closed the game on a 9-5 run, with five of those points coming from the free throw line, as the Abbey sealed the win.

In three games at Pfeiffer, Barbee has scored 33 points (2008), 19 points (2009) and 23 points (2010).