Belmont Abbey forward Kyle Phillips led all scorers with 21 points and senior guard Richard Barbee added 20 but the Crusaders fell at Limestone 72-65 this evening. The Abbey falls to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in Conference Carolinas, while Limestone moves to 8-2 overall and remains perfect in Conference Carolinas play with a 3-0 mark.

The Crusaders shot 43 percent (28-65) as Phillips led all scorers with 21 points on 10-20 shooting with six rebounds and one assist. Barbee added 20 points on 7-15 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists, a blocked shot and a steal. Jay Council finished with ten points on five of 10 shooting with four rebounds.

Limestone shot 52 percent (30-58) as Joe Raga led the Saints with 14 points, while Jarrell Douglass and Danny Friend both added 12. Ryan Bogdan chipped in with 11.

Limestone never trailed in the first half as it led by as many as nine in the first half, 23-14, before a 7-0 Abbey run clipped the lead to two at 23-21 with 6:36 left. The Saints would push its lead back to six points, but a 5-0 Abbey run, fueled by layups from Barbee and Council and capped off with a Phillips free throw, cut the lead to one at 29-28 with 1:52 left. After both teams traded baskets, Limestone scored the last three points of the half to take a 32-28 halftime lead.

The second half began with Limestone pushing its lead to eight points with just over three minutes gone by, but an ensuing 15-7 Abbey run gave it the first lead of the game at 46-45 with 10:14 left to play. Phillips scored eight of his 21 points in the flurry, which lasted just over six minutes, while Tyshawn Good gave the Crusaders their first lead with a layup at the 10:14 mark.

After a Limestone basket, Barbee answered with one of his own to put the Crusaders back on top at 49-48 with 9:18 to go, but Limestone regained the lead for good by scoring the next five points. The advantage grew to as high as 13 points at 71-58 with 44 ticks left, but the Abbey sliced the lead down to six points by scoring seven of the game's last eight points to close the scoring.