Belmont Abbey sophomore forward Kyle Phillips and junior guard Richard Barbee both scored 19 points, leading four Crusaders in double figures as the seventh-seeded men's basketball team upset the second-seeded Limestone Saints 79-64 this evening in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. The win moves the Crusaders record to 15-13 and vaults the Abbey to the semifinal where it will face the winner of the Anderson-Barton contest Friday night. Tonight's win avenged a pair of losses to the Saints in the regular season.

The Abbey shot 46 percent as Phillips sank nine of 14 field goal attempts with six rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. Barbeee finished seven of 13 shooting with three rebounds, two steals and an assist. Jay Council and Chad Patus both contributed 11 points, and Tyshawn Good added ten.

Limestone was led by Jarrell Douglass's 16 points and ten rebounds, while Stewart Clark finished with 15. The Saints shot just 38 percent from the field.

The first half featured two ties and seven lead changes, all in the first 4:13 until Terrone Sheffey pushed the Crusaders ahead for good with a jumper at the 15:47 mark. That basket ignited a 15-0 Crusader run that pushed their lead to 14 at 22-8 with 10:16 left. Clark halted the bleeding temporarily with a short jumper, but the Abbey responded with a 14-5 run to jump out to its biggest lead of the half, 21 points, 36-15 with 4:28 showing. Limestone would chop the lead down to 14, but Barbee hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the Crusaders a 40-24 halftime lead.

Belmont Abbey's advantage grew to as high as 18 points in the second half until a 12-2 Limestone spurt closed the lead to eight at 64-56 with 8:56 left in regulation, but the Abbey pulled away by scoring eight unanswered points to move the cushion to 16 at 72-56 with 3:56 left. Limestone could not get to within 15 points after that as the Abbey advanced to the semifinal.