BELMONT, N.C. (Feb. 22) – Despite holding the lead in the closing moments, the Trojans surrendered a layup with two seconds remaining before a game-winning missed its mark in an 82-81 loss at Belmont Abbey on Saturday in Conference Carolinas play.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive men's basketball team drops to 10-16 this season with an 8-10 mark in league action. With two contests remaining in the regular season, the Trojans continue to make a push to secure their spot in the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Meanwhile, Belmont Abbey snaps a 16-game losing streak to improve to 2-19 overall behind a 1-17 record in conference play.
Junior
Shane Peterson scored a team-high 17 points on five-of-eight shooting from beyond the arc with two rebounds, one assist, and one block in 28 minutes. Redshirt sophomore
Lureon Walker finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 attempts while adding two rebounds, one assist, and four steals in 27 minutes. Freshman
Matt Kirby totaled 12 points, three rebounds, and seven assists, while redshirt junior
Kobe Jones contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Trojans delivered an impressive start on the road taking an early 6-0 lead at the 19:09 mark. Mount Olive keeps expanding its lead to 26-12 with 10:26 left in the first half, led by Peterson with a pair of threes. The Crusaders were able to close the gap coming closer to the end of the first half. At the 3:28 mark, the Trojans were only up by two points with a score of 36-34. UMO scored eight of the final 12 points behind a back-to-back dunks by Walker to head into the break with a 44-38 edge.
UMO started with a layup by Kirby to begin the second half before stretching the advantage to 57-48 at the 14:26 mark. The Crusaders responded with 11 unanswered points to take a 59-57 lead before the contest was tied four separate times over the next two minutes. Belmont Abbey remained ahead until Kirby hit a three-pointer to grab an 80-78 advantage with 1:50 to go. The Crusaders tied the game at 80-80 with 1:12 remaining before taking an 82-81 lead on a layup with two seconds left. Mount Olive saw the game-winning shot miss it mark, as Belmont Abbey escaped with the win.
UMO shot at a 50.8 clip (31-of-61) from the floor while going 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Belmont Abbey finished the game shooting 52.4 percent (33-of-63) and converted 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) from beyond the arc. The Crusaders held a 41-25 rebounding advantage with 46 points in the paint. The Trojans tallied 25 points off turnovers and 22 off the bench.
Belmont Abbey freshman Jordan Patton scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds, one assist, three steals, and two blocks in 32 minutes. Sophomore Khamani Wertz totaled 19 points, three rebounds, seven assists, and one steal. Senior Alhousseny Diallo posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes.
The Trojans will return to the court on Monday, Feb. 24, when they face Barton at Kornegay Arena with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
