Belmont Abbey senior guard Terrone Sheffey fashioned his career-best scoring performance to date, netting a career-high 31 points as the Crusaders outscored Queens 14-6 in the final 1:39 after the contest was tied at 79 with 1:56 left as the fourth-seeded Crusaders dismissed the fifth-seeded Royals 93-85 in the quarterfinal round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Belmont Abbey advances to the semifinal round for the first time since the 2010-11 season as it improves to 20-9, while the Royals end their season with a mark of 15-12. It is the first time that the Abbey has defeated Queens three times in the same season.

Belmont Abbey will face the number one seed Barton College Bulldogs Thursday night at 7:00 in Wilson. The Crusaders reach the 20 win plateau for the first time in five years, and just for the third time in the past ten years.

The contest featured six ties and nine lead changes as the contest was in doubt until the final two minutes. Queens's largest lead was five points with 4:11 to go in the game as Tre McLean sank a running layup, but the Abbey made its final move to seize control late.

Jay Council swished a three-pointer, three of his 13 points on the night, to close the lead to a pair, and after a Royals turnover, Sheffey swished a three-pointer from the right elbow to move the Abbey back in front for the first time since the 8:58 mark. Sheffey's strike gave the Crusaders a 77-76 lead with 2:58 to play.

After Antonio Stabler missed a shot on the next Queens possession, Darryl Durham threw down a monstrous dunk to increase the cushion to three with 2:29 left.

Stabler was fouled on the next Queens trip, and he made the first free throw and missed the second, but Sam Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Stabler, who was fouled again. This time, Stabler made both free throws to deadlock the game for the last time, 79-79 with 1:56 to play.

Sheffey again had an answer for the Royals, draining another from beyond-the-arc to move the Abbey ahead for good with 1:39 left. After a missed shot by Queens, Good was fouled and his two free throws pushed the lead to six.

With 50 seconds left, David Mason cut the deficit to four, but Council responded with a jumper, which was matched by Queens on its next trip down the floor, as Brandon Nichols sank a jumper with 29 seconds left to trim the deficit to four.

From there, the Royals were forced to foul, and the Crusaders obliged by sinking all six of their attempts from the line to move their lead to 93-83 with eight ticks left. Joby Glymph closed the scoring with a jumper with two seconds left.

Both teams posted nearly identical shooting percentages, as the Abbey shot 50.9 percent (28-55) to Queens's 50.8 percent (33-65). Sheffey led all scorers with a career-high 31 points on 11-14 shooting from the field, including a perfect four for four from three-point range. He finished with 15 in the first half and 16 in the final 20 minutes. He was also five of six from the line to go along with four assists and two steals. Tyshawn Good added 21, 13 from the line on 13 attempts. Durham netted 15 and six rebounds, while Council scored 13 and grabbed seven rebounds.

Stabler led the Royals with 28 points on 11-19 shooting, while Nichols added 20 on eight of 15 shooting. Mason chipped in with 13 and Glymph added 11.