BELMONT, N.C. – The Erskine College men's basketball team (2-6, 2-6 CC) lost 87-72 against Belmont Abbey College (10-3, 8-2 CC) in the Wheeler Center on Wednesday night.
 
GAME ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Belmont Abbey is 21-8 all-time against the Fleet and Erskine has not won against the Crusaders since a 69-67 road victory back in January 2018 as Belmont Abbey pushed their winning streak to seven with a win over the Fleet tonight.
 
THE GAME
Belmont Abbey scored the game's first eight points before the visiting Fleet got on the board with a Matthew Brown triple just before the first media timeout. Erskine had a balanced scoring attack in the first half including six free throws from Jalen Miller and a pair of threes from Justin Morton, but the Crusaders offense shot a blistering 53% from the field and was 5-12 from deep as Belmont Abbey took a 46-35 halftime lead. The Fleet scored the first seven points of the second half, capped by a Morton three-pointer to trim the deficit to four. But, a 10-4 Belmont Abbey run extended the hosts lead back to double digits, and the Crusaders kept the Fleet at arms length the remainder of the second half. All four of Uzziah Dawkins' field goals came in the second half, but the Fleet struggled to get enough stops to overcome the deficit as Belmont Abbey picked up a wire-to-wire 87-72 win.

THE PLAYER
Justin Morton had a team-high 15 points on 4-8 shooting from beyond the arc and was 3-4 from the free throw line. Morton also grabbed two reobunds and added an assist and a block for the Fleet.

THE TEAM
Erskine shot 25-56 (44.6%) and was 7-22 (31.8%) from beyond the arc. The Fleet were also 15-21 (71.4%) from the foul line. But, Erskine got doubled up in the rebound department, 44 to 22, and gave up a season-high 24 offensive rebounds which Belmont Abbey converted into 31 second chance points.

WHAT'S NEXT 
Erskine travels to Barton College (2-5, 2-5 CC) on Friday night for the first game of a back-to-back against the Bulldogs. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.Barton leads the all-time series 21-6 and have won the last two matchups. The Fleet have not won at Barton since December 2013.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

    Visit the Official Home of Erskine Athletics at www.erskinesports.com
  
    Follow us on Social Media – Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Photos