Belmont Abbey senior guard Richard Barbee paced the Crusaders with 24 points, but Limestone shot 57 percent from the floor, converting ten three-pointers on 20 tries, as the Saints moved to 18-5 overall and 12-3 in Conference Carolinas with a 79-67 win this evening at the Wheeler Center. The Abbey falls to 12-11 overall and 7-8 in Conference Carolinas as its three-game losing streak is snapped.

Down by 15, 68-53 with 5:56 to play, the Crusaders embarked on a 10-1 run over the next two minutes to chop the lead down to six at 69-63 with 3:02 to play. Barbee, Tremayne Gates and Darryl Durham sparked the jaunt, as Gates converted two running layups, Durham added another, while Barbee swished home a layup and two free throws.

Limestone moved its advantage back to nine, but a 4-1 mini-run by the Crusaders closed the lead back down to six on two free throws from Barbee with 1:13 left, but the Abbey would not score again. The Saints closed the game on a 6-0 run, four of the points coming from the free throw line, as they held off the late Abbey charge.

The Saints never trailed after being down 2-1 as they built their first half lead to as high as 15 points at 39-24. That came on the heels of a 12-0 run in just under two minutes as their lead ballooned from three points to 15, 39-24, with 2:19 left. The Abbey scored four of the final five points to close the gap to 12, 40-28, at the half.

In the second half the two teams scored 39 points apiece, but the Saints maintained their double digit lead, widening it to as high as 17 at 54-37 with 15:19 to go. The advantage never dipped below ten points until the 4:04 mark when the Abbey was in the midst of its 10-1 run.

Jarrell Douglass led all scorers with 27 points on eight of 11 shooting, with 11 rebounds and one blocked shot. Ashton Ford added 14 points on five of eight shooting, including four of six from beyond the arc. Joe Raga added ten points on four of seven shooting. Limestone shot 57.4 percent (27-47) from the field and 10-20 from the three-point range. It converted only 15 of 32 free throw attempts.

Barbee led the Crusaders with 24 points on seven of 17 shooting. He also sank all ten of his free throw attempts. He added six rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 40-minute performance. Kyle Phillips chipped in with 14 points on six of 13 shooting with seven rebounds. The Abbey shot 43.3 percent (26-60) from the floor but was just two for ten from three-point range.