Box Score Due West, SC – Needing a win to keep their postseason ambitions alive, Erskine (10-17, 5-10) got a huge win tonight by beating Belmont Abbey (14-11, 8-7) tonight 84-74 in Conference Carolinas men’s basketball action at Belk Arena.  With the win, coupled with North Greenville University’s loss tonight, the Fleet can now clinch a spot in the conference tournament with a win over West division leading King College on Friday night.

After scoring the first two points of the game on two free throws by senior Brandon Quarles (Landrum, SC, Landrum High School), the Fleet found themselves trailing 11-6 in the early minutes of the game.  At that point, Erskine used a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game.  Senior Filip Pejovic (Prijepolje, Serbia, Prijepoljska Gimnazija) drilled back-to-back three point shots and junior Jake Haslam (Lithia, FL, Tampa Preparatory School) added another one to give the Fleet a 15-11 lead.  Neither team could hold the lead over the next five minutes of play until Erskine’s Corey Sorrell (Walton, KY, Holy Cross High School) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to give Erskine the lead for good.  Belmont Abbey kept the game close but the Fleet scored the last five points of the half to go up by their largest lead to end the half at 43-33.

In the second half, Belmont Abbey trimmed the deficit back to single digits and even drew within one point on a 3-point basket by Jay Council with seven minutes remaining.   But each time the Fleet responded with a defensive stop and a key basket to hold the lead.   DeShaun Hall (Inman, SC, Landrum High School) and Mike Gabbard (Erlanger, KY, Boone County High School) both made two free throws in the final minute to give Erskine the ten point victory at 84-74.

Corey Sorrell scored a game-high 25 points on 9 of 18 field goals, including 5 of 11 from behind the arc.  Pejovic added 17 points while pulling down a team-high 6 rebounds.  Hall also scored 17 points while handing out 6 assists.  Quarles had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in his final home game at Belk Arena.

Tyshawn Good led the Crusaders with 23 points while Council had 16 points.  Kyle Phillips helped the Crusaders control the class by grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

Prior to the game, Erskine honored seniors Filip Pejovic and Brandon Quarles.  Both seniors are having the best seasons of their careers this year.

Box Score