BELMONT, N.C. – The King University men's basketball team used a big second half run to take a lead in the second half at Belmont Abbey College on Tuesday night. However, Belmont Abbey took the lead late and escaped a missed triple at the buzzer to hand King a 91-88 defeat.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Belmont Abbey 91, King 88
LOCATION: Wheeler Center; Belmont, N.C.
RECORDS: King 6-16, 5-10 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 16-8, 12-4 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- King held the advantage in the early going behind baskets from Darron Howard, Michael Mays and Brandon Lamberth.
- Howard later gave King an 11-7 lead with a triple and layup, but the Crusaders came back to take a 15-13 lead before a Myles McCrary layup.
- The teams then traded points until Mays drilled a triple to give King a 26-23 lead with eight minutes remaining until halftime.
- Belmont Abbey scored seven straight points to gain the advantage before a pair of Mays free throws.
- In all, an 11-2 run gave Belmont Abbey a 34-28 lead with three minutes remaining in the half.
- The Crusaders then went on another run, closing the half on a 10-2 spurt, including a triple at the buzzer to take a 44-32 lead at the half.
Second Half
- Early in the second half, Belmont Abbey had an answer for each basket the Tornado made as the Crusaders led 54-42.
- At that point Mays heated up following a Henry Okoye offensive rebound and layup.
- Mays knocked down three triples and scored 13 straight points, giving King a 57-54 following the 15-0 run.
- Over the final 13 minutes, neither team led by more than four points as Belmont Abbey held a slight advantage.
- An offense rebound and layup from McCrary gave King a 72-71 lead with five minutes remaining.
- The Tornado then held the advantage as a Mays triple gave King a 79-75 lead.
- Belmont Abbey came back and evened the score at 82 and eventually took an 86-84 lead with a pair of free throws.
- The Tornado deficit grew to 89-85 before Mays connected from long range with five seconds remaining.
- Following two Belmont Abbey free throws, the last effort for the Tornado was off the mark as the Crusaders escaped with the 91-88 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Mays led the Tornado with 37 points, going 12-for-21 from the floor, including 7-for-12 from three-point range.
- Jaylen Bernard added 13 points and five rebounds while Lamberth accounted for 12 points and seven rebounds.
- Howard posted 10 points and McCrary chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.
- Okoye led King with nine rebounds and six assists.
FOR THE FOES
- Mason Taylor led Belmont Abbey with 21 points and eight rebounds while Wade Jackson added 20 points.
- Mario Lacy, Jr. added 15 points and Kyle Frazer chipped in with 12 points.
- Jaylen Jones added nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.
- Charles Solomon accounted for seven points, eight rebounds and five blocks.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Mays topped the 30-point plateau for the fourth time this season. The last time was in January when he scored 32 against Belmont Abbey.
- Mays went 7-for-12 from three-point range, the fourth-most triples made in a game in program history. He was also one point shy of matching his career-high.
- Okoye set career-highs with nine rebounds and six assists.
UP NEXT
- King travels to Barton College on Saturday. Tipoff from Wilson, N.C. is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
- Belmont Abbey travels to Chowan University on Saturday.
