The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team fell at Mount Olive 69-64 this afternoon at Kornegay Arena.

Brandon Allen paced the Trojans effort as he posted a double-double in the contest, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Allen and Ewon Wright combined to go a perfect 16-of-16 from the line, including 8-for-8 in the game's final 2:06. Derek Staton scored a team-high 18 points, most of those coming in the first half.

The Trojans as a team went 24 of 29 (83 percent) from the charity stripe, including 20 of 23 in the second half as Mount Olive (9-6, 4-3) overcame a double-digit deficit.

Richard Barbee led all scorers with 19 for Belmont Abbey (6-8, 2-5). He also had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists. Jay Council added 13 points and five rebounds.

In a game that featured 15 lead changes and six ties, Mount Olive took the lead for good at 65-64 on a pair of Allen free throws with 47 seconds to go. Barbee was fouled with 23 seconds to go and went to the line with a chance to regain the lead for Belmont Abbey, but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and Wright came up with the loose ball.

Wright was quickly fouled, and made both shots to put the Trojans up 67-64. The Crusaders missed a contested shot with just seconds to play, and Allen came up with the loose ball. He was fouled with three seconds to go, and made his ninth and tenth straight free throws of the contest to seal the win.

Belmont Abbey had used a 12-4 run to take a 20-12 lead midway through the first half. A three-pointer by Tyshawn Good and a three-point play by Barbee had sparked the spurt. However, Mount Olive responded with a 9-2 run, with all nine points for the Trojans coming from Staton.

With the game tied at 30-all, the Crusaders closed out the first half on a 7-2 run, then scored the first five points of the second half to take the biggest lead of the game by either team, 10 points, at 42-32, on a 3-point play by Kyle Phillips with 17:22 to go.

Belmont Abbey still led by eight at 48-40 when Mount Olive went on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit back to two, and eventually moved back in front on a pair of Allen free throws with 5:02 to play.

From there, the two teams went through eight lead changes and a pair of ties before Allen gave the Trojans the lead for good on his free throws with 47 seconds left.