Saints'rally falls short in loss to Belmont Abbey
STAFF REPORTS

The Limestone men's basketball team launched a late rally against Conference Carolinas-rival Belmont Abbey, but came up short as the Crusaders won 85-77.

Limestone slips to 0-2 in league play (1-3 overall) as Belmont Abbey climbs to 3-0 in the conference (3-4 overall).

Limestone's offense was led by Andre Coleman, who scored 19 points. Kenny White had 18 points and Andrae Franklin scored 13 for the Saints.

Bobby Grier had a game-high seven rebounds, as Franklin and Jamison Clark both grabbed six rebounds. Roderick Wilson had two blocks for the Saints.

Belmont Abbey's Jonathan Jackson scored a game-high 19 points to lead four more Crusaders in double figures.

Richard Barbee had 15 points, while Chad Patus chipped in 14 and Ric Marzenko and Deone Murphy each recorded 10. Barbee also posted six boards.

Belmont Abbey jumped ahead in the first half and never looked back, outscoring Limestone 11-2 in the opening minutes.

The Crusaders built a commanding 45-28 lead heading into the second half.

Belmont Abbey increased its lead to 23 points with 12 minutes left to play. Limestone rallied to get within striking distance, cutting the Crusaders' lead to seven with 4:51 left.

Limestone shot 47.7 percent from the field while the Crusaders shot 43 percent. Despite making one out of 10 3-pointers in the first half, the Saints shot 53 percent from longrange in the second half, going 9- for-17 from behind the arc.

Belmont Abbey hit 7 of its 15 threes and 85 percent of its freethrows.

Limestone shot 63 percent from the charity line, nailing five of their 8 free-throw attempts.

The Saints had a narrow 39-38 advantage in rebounds.

Limestone hosts Newberry on Saturday, December 15 at 7:30 p.m.