Belmont Abbey senior guard Richard Barbee led all scorers with 17 points as the Crusaders men's basketball team snapped a two-game Conference Carolinas losing streak with a 69-52 win at Erskine this evening. The Abbey, which gains a season sweep of the Flying Fleet, evens its record to 10-10 overall and 5-7 in Conference Carolinas, while Erskine falls to 2-16 overall and 1-10 in Conference Carolinas.

The Abbey shot 51 percent (25-49) as Barbee led all scorers with 17 points, 15 in the first half, on six of nine shooting with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Kyle Phillips added 15 points on seven of ten shooting with three rebounds and a steal. The Abbey held a dominating 35-20 edge on the boards. Darryl Durham recorded four offensive rebounds and finished with a game-high of seven.

Erskine shot just 39.6 percent (19-48) as Troy Griffith led the Fleet with 12 points, while DeShaun Hill added ten.

The Flying Fleet led for most of the first half before a 9-0 Abbey run midway through the first half gave the Crusaders a lead they would never relinquish. Trailing by four at 21-17 with 9:52 left, the Abbey scored nine straight points, getting a free throw from Ian Parry and jumpers from Barbee and Durham, to put it on top for good. Erskine would trim the lead to one at 28-27 with 2:45 left, but the Crusaders closed the stanza on a 6-0 run, using a Matthew Beerse three-pointer and a traditional three-point play from Alonzo Long to carry a 33-27 lead into the break.

Belmont Abbey opened the second half by scoring the first six points to build its lead to 12, capped by a jumper from Jay Council. Erskine converted a three-pointer on its next possession to cut the lead to nine, but a 7-2 Crusader run pushed the advantage back to double digits at 14 points.

A Flying Fleet run of 12-2 over the next three minutes would chop their deficit down to four at 50-46 with 9:20 left, but the Crusaders responded by scoring the next nine unanswered points, capped off by a Beerse three pointer, to extend the lead to double digits for good at 59-46 with 6:14 to play.

After an Erskine layup on its next possession cut the lead to 11, the Abbey closed the game on a 10-5 run to seal a 69-52 victory.