The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team cut a ten-point deicit down to just one point with just 7:12 left, but Erskine outscored the Abbey 19-7 the rest of the way to pull away and claim an 84-74 win this evening at Belk Arena. Erskine improves to 10-17 overall and 5-10 in Conference Carolinas, while the Abbey drops to 14-11 overall and 8-7 in Conference Carolinas.

The Crusaders never led after the 11:24 mark of the first half as the Flying Fleet tuned a five point deficit into a seven point advantage over a span of six minutes to claim a 36-29 lead with 6:01 left. After the Crusaders halted the run with a timeout, Erskine maintained its momentum by ending the half on a 7-4 run to carry a 43-33 lead into the break.

Erskine scored the first points of the half on a Corey Sorrell three-pointer to extend its lead to 13, its highest of the game, before an Abbey charge sliced the lead down to just three behind a 13-5 flurry. Both teams traded baskets from there, and then Erskine pushed its lead to six before a jumper from Kyle Phillips and a three-pointer by Jay Council chopped the Erskine lead down to just one at 65-64 with 7:12 to go.

Brandon Quarles stymied the Abbey run with a jumper to extend the lead back to three, and after an Abbey turnover, a Fleet basket on the other end moved the advantage to five. Council drained another three-pointer to bring the Crusaders to within two, but Hall swished home another jumper to momentarily halt the Abbey charge. After an ensuing Abbey turnover, Sorrell increased the lead to six with a jumper with 4:43 left.

From there, the Crusaders got no closer than three points as Erskine hit all four of its free throw attempts in the final 48 seconds to earn a ten point win.

Sorrell led all players with 25 points, while Hall and Fillip Petrovic added 17 each. Tyshawn Good led the Crusaders with 23 points, while Council added 16. Justin Kuhlman chipped in with 11. Phillips led all players with 12 rebounds.