Belmont Abbey junior guard Richard Barbee led all scorers with 21 points, but the Abbey's three-point attempt to tie the game with five seconds left fell off the rim as the Conference Carolinas leading Mount Olive Trojans earned a 70-65 win this evening at the Wheeler Center. Mount Olive, winners of 11 straight, improve to 16-4 overall and remain unbeaten in Conference Carolinas play with a 12-0 mark, while the Abbey falls to 11-8 overall and 7-5 in Conference Carolinas.

The contest featured eight ties and six lead changes, and the two teams were separated by three points at 64-61 in favor of Mount Olive with 4:24 left. Tyshawn Good closed the lead to one with a layup with 3:43 showing, and 1:59 later, Kyle Phillips pushed the Abbey ahead by one point at 65-64, the Crusaders first lead since the 18:09 mark.

30 seconds later, Mount Olive's Kendrick Easley tipped in a Craig Hayes missed jumper to allow the Trojans to seize the lead for good. Leading by one, Hayes stretched the lead to three at 68-65 with layup with 17 seconds left.

Belmont Abbey called a timeout to set up its final play, but Patrick Kuhlman's three-point attempt fell off the rim and Easley grabbed it and was then fouled. With four seconds left, he hit both ends of the one and one for his fifteenth and sixteenth points of the game to seal the win.

The Abbey lead 36-33 at the half. Neither team had a lead higher than nine points.

Barbee led three Crusaders in double figures with 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal. Good added 14 points and Chad Patus chipped in with 11 as the Abbey shot 42 percent from the field. It won the rebounding edge 39-36.

The Trojans shot 44 percent as Easley and Hayes tied for the team-high with 16 points, while Mike Holloman added 12. Holloman and Derek Staton led all players with seven rebounds apiece.