The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team lost at Wingate today by a score of 83-77 in Cuddy Arena. The Abbey drops to 7-4, while Wingate moves to 5-7.

The Crusaders shot 48.5 percent (33-68) as senior forward Kyle Phillips led the Abbey and tied for the game-high with 20 points. He also had eight rebounds, a career-high six blocked shots and two assists in just 25 minutes. Tyshawn Good added 14 points on five of ten shooting with four assists and two steals and Jay Council poured in ten points with three assists.

Matthew Graves posted a career-best ten rebounds as the Crusaders won the battle of the boards by a 42-36 count. Graves's ten rebounds was a game-high.

Wingate shot 39.7 percent (25-63) as Odell Turner led the Bulldogs with 20 points on four of ten shooting from the field, but he sank 12 of 13 free throws. Wingate was 22-30 from the line, while the Abbey was just seven of 11. Eddie Lewis added 18 points, while Jaime Vaughn contributed 16 and Paidrick Matilus registered ten.

Wingate opened the game holding the lead until midway through the first half when a nine-point Bulldog lead melted into a five point Crusader advantage in just over seven minutes. A jumper by Terrone Sheffey with 4:17 left moved the edge to six, but a 14-6 run by Wingate to close the half gave the Bulldogs a 38-35 lead at the break.

The second half saw Wingate hold on to its lead through the first five minutes before an Abbey charge-two free throws from Good and a three-pointer by Ryan Conrad-moved the Crusaders back in front at 49-47 with 12:40 to go. The Bulldogs tied the game two minutes later, and both teams exchanged baskets for the next several minutes before a quick 7-2 Abbey spurt, capped off by a Tim Mason three-pointer, moved the Abbey on top by five at 78-63 with 3:59 to go.

Wingate scored eight of the game's next ten points to reclaim a one-point lead with 2:43 left, and the Bulldogs never surrendered the advantage again, even after a basket by Sheffey with 38 ticks left trimmed the lead to one. After Sheffey's contributions, Vaughn hit two free throws to extend the cushion to three. The Abbey missed a three-pointer on its next trip down the floor, and Jeffrey Parker hit the first of two free throws to widen the gap to four with 14 seconds to go.

A missed jumper by Council on the Abbey's next possession was rebounded by Wingate, and Turner sealed the win with a pair of free throws with one second left.