The seventh-seeded Belmont Abbey basketball team outscored Anderson 49-38 in the second half after trailing 40-25 at halftime, but Anderson's Kevis Cornwell broke an 89-89 tie with a free throw with four seconds left to allow the Trojans to advance to the Conference Carolinas Tournament Final with a 90-89 win this evening at the Abney Center.

Belmont Abbey trailed trailed 64-51 with 14:52 left, but the Abbey mounted a 24-11 run over the next 7:20 to knot the game at 75 with 7:32 left. Of the 24 points in the run, 12 came from three point range as the Crusaders battled back. Cornwell momentarily gave Anderson the edge at 77-75, but the Crusaders scored the next five points to claim an 80-77 advantage. The Abbey held that lead for the next three and a half minutes, moving it to as high as four points on a Jay Council jumper with 3:53 remaining and the lead rising to 85-81.

Anderson grabbed the lead right back by scoring five unanswered points, getting a jumper from Trey Britton and a three-pointer by Oskars Ernsteins to give the Trojans an 86-85 lead. Kyle Phillips moved the Abbey back on top 19 seconds later, but a free throw by Anderson's Brandon Young deadlocked the game at 87. Phillips again had an answer, connecting on a jumper with 1:20 left to push the Crusaders ahead 89-87.

20 seconds later, Young was fouled and made both free throws to tie the game at 89. 19 seconds later, an Abbey turnover gave the ball back to Anderson, and with 12 seconds left, Young let fly a three-pointer that fell off but was rebounded by Cornwell, who was fouled with four seconds left. Cornwell missed the first but made the second to give Anderson the lead for the final time. The Abbey was unable to get off a shot as the Trojans advanced to the championship game.

Belmont Abbey shot 51 percent for the game and 52 percent in the second half as Phillips and Richard Barbee led all scorers with 17 points. Phillips added seven rebounds, four on the offensive glass. Barbee also had three assists and a steal. Senior forward Chad Patus, who needed 13 points to record 1,000 for his career, finished with 14 in his final game with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. He becomes the 34th player in school history to record 1,000 career points. Tyshawn Good added 13 points and senior guard Patrick Kuhlman, in his final game, finished with 12 with three assists.

Anderson shot 66 percent as Young and Cornwell led four Trojans in double figures with 16 points each, while Tony Anderson added 15 and Britton had 12.