BELMONT, N.C. – The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team started Conference Carolinas action on the winning note with an 85-77 victory against North Greenville Saturday night at the Wheeler Center. The Abbey had a pair of 7-0 runs, including the final seven points of the game, to close out its third straight win. The Crusaders move to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference. North Greenville is 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the league.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sean Halloran had a season-high 23 points for Belmont Abbey to go with four assists and four steals. It is the third time in Halloran's career to record four steals in a game. Halloran was honored prior to the start of the game Saturday for reaching 1,000 career points.
• The Abbey got off to a good start by scoring six of the first eight points of the game.
• Belmont Abbey led by as many as nine points in the first half and maintained a 45-38 advantage after 20 minutes.
• Mario Lacy, Jr. tallied 14 points and game-high eight rebounds.
• Belmont Abbey shot 51.3% from the field in the first half.
• A 3-pointer from L.J. McCoy with 15:02 left in the game gave Belmont Abbey a 59-49 lead, its largest of the game. McCoy finished with 12 points.
• A Ryan Maslow 3-pointer with 4:18 remaining gave Belmont Abbey the lead for good at 71-70. Maslow finished with 10 points.
• Halloran recorded two steals in the final nine seconds, including a dunk with 1.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
• The Abbey outrebounded North Greenville 39-19 and also held a 19-7 advantage in fast break points.

UP NEXT

• The Abbey goes on the road to face Southern Wesleyan in Conference Carolinas action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.