TIGERVILLE, S.C. -- Belmont Abbey hit 62.5 percent from the field in the second half with junior DeQuon Abrom tallying 14 of his 23 points in the period, leading to a 79-70 victory over North Greenville in Conference Carolinas men's basketball action Thursday night.

The visiting Crusaders overcame a halftime deficit for the first time in four tries this season in improving to 13-3 overall, 7-0 league play. NGU fell to 2-13, 0-7.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Freshman Sean Halloran (career-high-tying 19 points) and senior Aidan Richard (season-high 13 points also reached double figures for the Crusaders.
• Romeao Ferguson grabbed a team-best six rebounds with Richard adding five, while Halloran chipped in five assists.
• In the first half, North Greenville connected on 55.2 percent from the field, compared to 41.9 percent for The Abbey, but held a slim 39-37 margin. After intermission, the numbers were reversed, with BAC holding NGU to 30.3 percent, while hitting 62.5 percent (15-24). It was the second-best shooting half of the season, following the second half-effort of 68.2 percent the first time these two teams back on Dec. 7.
• North Greenville opened the contest with the first four points before an 11-0 run by The Abbey. NGU led by as many as five in the opening period before Halloran hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to make the score 39-37 at the break.
• NGU opened the second half with a 9-1 run that pushed its advantage to double digits for the only time, 48-38 with 16:51 to play.
• Belmont Abbey countered with 5-0 and 6-0 around an NGU basket to pull even at 58, then broke a 62-62 tie with seven straight points. The run was capped by a conventional three-point play by Halloran layup at the 5:23 mark.
• From there, the Crusaders hit nine of 12 free throws to preserve the victory.
• Belmont Abbey entered the game ranked third nationally in free throw percentage, but hit just 15 of 25 in the contest.
• Belmont Abbey continues to match the 2002-03 team for the best start at 13-3, while the conference mark of 7-0 is three games longer than the previous high.
• The Crusaders surpassed their win total for the entire 2017-18 season when they finished 12-19 after advancing to the conference championship game.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey wraps up its three-game road swing on Saturday when it travels to Southern Wesleyan for a 4 p.m. start.
• The Crusaders defeated the Warriors 79-58 in Belmont on Dec. 1.