SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Erskine College men's basketball developmental team defeated defending champion Barton College, 92-85, in double overtime to claim the 2024 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Developmental Championship at the Weisiger Center on Monday evening.

The event, which is a unique championship opportunity for developmental teams within Conference Carolinas, consisted of four, three-team preliminary rounds hosted by Barton, Converse, Erskine and King with the four champions competing for the title.

In the championship final, the Fleet jumped out to a nine-point lead with all nine coming from tournament MVP Deavion Scales. The early run helped Erskine to a 43-36 lead at the half. The Fleet pushed the lead to 16, 59-43, with 15:03 to play. However, the Bulldogs refused to go quietly and went on a 28-12 run to force overtime, with the game tied at 71.

Erskine opened the first overtime with a 6-2 run, but the Fleet fell victim to another Barton, tying the score at 77 as the title game went to a second overtime. Scales shined in the second extra period, scoring 10 points of the Fleet's 16 points to give Erskine their first developmental men's basketball trophy.

Erskine outshot Barton 49.9 percent (35-of-73) to 37.8 percent (31-of-82) and had a 56-40 edge in points in the paint. Scales finished with a game-high 34 points while Michael Peay, Jr. added 19 and Drayton Benjamin had nine points and 10 rebounds.

To get to the championship game, Erskine had to get past Belmont Abbey in the first semifinal of the day. The Flying Fleet shot an impressive 57.6 percent (34-of-59) from the field and 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the 3-point arc while the defense limited the Crusaders to 22-of-59 (37.3 percent) shooting. Erskine outrebounded Abbey 38-25 in the contest and were led offensively by Stephen Webster who netted 15 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from long range while three others scored double figures. Erskine led by just 6 at the half, but shot a blistering 8-12 from three-point territory in the second half to pull away from the Crusaders and earn their spot in the title game.

More information can be found on the tournament webpage here. 

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