Belmont, N.C.----The Belmont Abbey Crusaders finished the game on a 13-1 run Tuesday night, rallying for an 82-80 victory over Wingate University in NCAA Division II men's basketball action. The Crusaders start the season 1-0, while the Bulldogs move to 0-1.
KEY STATS
- Wingate shot 53 percent from the field, going nine-for-22 from three-point range (41 percent)
- Belmont Abbey shot 52 percent from the field, connecting on 10-of-28 from deep (36 percent)
- The Crusaders held a 28-26 rebounding advantage
- BAC scored 22 points off 13 WU turnovers; the 'Dogs scored 17 points off 13 Crusader turnovers
- Belmont Abbey outscored Wingate 30-28 in the paint
- The Crusaders were 18-for-24 at the free throw line; Wingate went 13-for-19
KEY BULLDOGS
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EJ Joyner had 21 points, five assists and two rebound, going nine-for-11 from the field
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Chase McKey had 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal
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Hassan Belkhaddar contributed 11 points, two boards and two assists
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Derek Bradley had nine points, a rebound a steal
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Jalen Milt added eight points and five rebounds
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Darius Carr and
Stephen Quinn contributed five points apiece
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Jordan Miller had two points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals
FIRST HALF
- A Milt three and Joyner jumper gave the 'Dogs an 11-7 lead four minutes in
- Two Myles Smith free throws tied it at 11
- Joyner's triple at the 13:13 mark gave the Bulldogs a five-point lead
- A Khamani Wertz three gave the Crusaders an 17-16 advantage a minute later
- WU answered with a 10-4 run capped by a three and layup from Joyner to go up 27-20
- Bradley's triple with 8:40 to go put the 'Dogs on top 32-24
- A three and two free throws from Quinn pushed the lead to 12 at the 6:27 mark
- A Belkhaddar four-point play gave Wingate a 44-28 advantage with 3:44 remaining
- Buckets from Belkhaddar and Joyner pushed the lead to 19
- A Wertz triple in the final minute cut the halftime lead to 16 at 50-34
SECOND HALF
- Joyner's triple a minute into the second half gave the 'Dogs a 55-34 lead
- Jordan Patton's layup at the 11:45 mark cut it to 17, but
Jayden Street's layup made it 64-45
- Smith's layup with 7:25 remaining cut the deficit to 10
- Carr's layup made it 70-58, but a Gabe Cerda layup pulled Belmont Abbey within eight
- WU scored the next six, taking a 77-62 lead on a Joyner layup with 4:36 remaining
- BAC scored the next seven, making it 77-69 on a Franklin Davis three
- McKey's bucket at the 2:30 mark put the 'Dogs on top 79-69
- A Cerda layup with 56 seconds left pulled the Crusaders within six
- McKey's free throw made it 80-73 with 48 seconds to go
- Cerda buried a three to cut the lead to four, while two Smith free throws made it 80-78 with 37 seconds left
- Wertz buried a triple with 19 seconds left, giving Belmont Abbey an 81-80 advantage
- WU had a chance to regain the lead, but a missed layup was rebounded by the Crusaders
- Elijah Burnett's free throw with two seconds left made the final margin 82-80
UP NEXT
- Wingate is back in action Friday, taking on Mount Olive at 7 p.m.
- The Bulldogs face Barton Saturday at 11 a.m.
