WILSON, N.C.-Sophomore point guard Gerald Boston, junior guard Jaren Haley and senior power forward L. J. Dunn all had huge nights Saturday as Barton College barreled past visiting Belmont Abbey to a 112-87 Conference Carolinas men's basketball triumph.
Boston (Burlington, N.C.) scored 21 points and dished off a school-record 15 assists; Haley (Woodbridge, Va.) cashed in 8-of-11 three-point attempts en route to a career-high 33 points; and Dunn delivered with 28 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
Barton, a winner of four straight, is now 15-9 overall and 10-6 (third place) in Conference Carolinas. The Bulldogs, who entertain second-place Limestone at 7:30 next Saturday night in their regular-season league finale, are now guaranteed a home game in the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Abbey slipped to 12-11 overall and 7-8 in league action. Barton swept both games with the Abbey this season.
Junior 6-foot-5 post player Jo Jo Velez also had a nice night for the victors with 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting and five boards. Barton edged Abbey 31-30 in rebounding and shot 59.7 percent from the floor (37-of-62), compared to 48.3 percent (28-of-58) for the Crusaders.
The Abbey was paced by 28 points and a team-best nine rebounds from the reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week, senior guard Richard Barbee (Virginia Beach, Va.). Junior 6-9 forward Kyle Phillips (Lexington, S.C.) dropped 20 points and Tyshawn Good (Jamaica, N.Y.) drained 11 points on 7-of-7 foul shooting.
Barton outscored the Crusaders 33-12 from beyond the arc (made 11-of-21 treys) and 27-13 in points off turnovers.
A Dunn layup at 16:24 of the first half gave Barton an 8-7 lead, but Phillips scored five straight points to put the Crusaders up 12-8. A jumper by sophomore guard Jay Council (Camden, S.C.) gave the Abbey its largest lead at 16-10 with 13:53 left in the half. A 12-0 run by the Bulldogs that featured two threes by Haley, four points from Boston and a jumper by Dunn put the Bulldogs up 22-16 at 12:03. Barton would not trail again.
The Abbey got within 25-21, but the Bulldogs put together a 9-0 spree, thanks to two jumpers and two foul shots from Dunn. A late 3-pointer from the top of the key by Boston helped Barton secure a 54-43 halftime edge.
Council, Barbee and Phillips helped the Crusaders pull within six at 60-54 early in the second half, but Haley bombed the Bulldogs back to a 71-58 cushion with a trio of 3-pointers.
A Barbee layup at 11:45 got the Abbey within 73-67, but Dunn and Velez wheeled and dealed down low for two buckets apiece to push the lead to 14 at 81-67. Haley had another run of eight straight points that included two 3-pointers to make it 95-65, and then Barton cruised to the victory.
