The Belmont Abbey men's basketball team scored the first 16 points of the game and never looked back as five players scored at least ten points in an easy 93-62 win over the visiting Carson-Newman Eagles this evening at the Wheeler Center. The Abbey, which has scored at least 90 points in four of five games this season, moves to 3-2 on the year, while the Eagles drop to 2-3.
The Crusaders never trailed as it stormed out to a 16-0 lead in the first 4:41 as the Eagles committed four turnovers in their first five possessions before scoring their first points 6:21 in. The first half lead grew to as high as 21 points on a layup by Kyle Phillips with 4:55 to go, but Carson-Newman outscored the Crusaders 10-6 to trim its halftime deficit to 45-34.
Carson-Newman carried its late first half momentum into the second half, chopping the Abbey lead down to six at 47-41, but a quick 5-0 Crusader mini-run pushed the lead back to double digits at 11 points with 16:02 to go.
Three minutes later, Carson-Newman cut the lead to eight, but it would not get back into double digits again as Belmont Abbey countered with a 31-11 run over the next 11 minutes to pull away for good. The flurry was capped by a three-pointer from Jay Council, three of his career-high 24 points, which moved the lead to 29 at 85-56 with 4:49 to go.
After an Eagle free throw, two from the charity stripe by Darryl Durham extended the lead to its nadir, 31 points at 90-59 with 3:22 left. The margin never dropped below 28 from there as the Abbey cruised to its third win.
Belmont Abbey shot 52.4 percent as Tyshawn Good led all scorers with 30 points, three shy of his career-high that he set two games ago. He made five of his first six shots, four from three-point range, as he totaled 21 points in the first half. His final line was eight of 15 from the floor, four for seven from three-point range and ten of 12 from the free throw line to go along with two rebounds, two assists and a steal in 29 minutes. Council registered a career-high 24 points on nine of 13 shooting, three of six from three-point range, with five rebounds and two assists. Kyle Phillips added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Terrone Sheffey posted ten points, five assists and three steals in 24 minutes.
Carson-Newman shot 46.3 percent as Jared Johnson led the Eagles with 24 points on ten of 13 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and four steals. Antoine Davis added 12 points and six boards. The Eagles were hampered by 25 turnovers, 13 in the first half.