BELMONT, N.C. – The Barton men's basketball team (0-3, 0-3) fell to Belmont Abbey (4-1, 2-0) for the second time in as many days with an 83-69 loss to the Crusaders in Conference Carolinas action Saturday at the Wheeler Center.
Belmont Abbey was paced by Nate Davis (Denver, Colo.) with 16 points and the Crusaders continued their hot hand from the field, shooting 64 percent (29-of-45) for the contest.
Barton was led by freshman guard
Marcus Boykin (Clinton, N.C.) with 19 points and sophomore guard
Brandon Burford (Charlotte, N.C.) added 17 points but the Bulldogs once again were cold from behind the arc. Barton, who jumped out to a 15-6 lead to start the game, hit just four-of-21 (19 percent) three-point attempts.
The game was tied at 38-all at intermission before Belmont Abbey took control by scoring the first 10 points of the second half and never let Barton get within five points the rest of the way. The Crusaders also hit 20 free throws and held a 35-23 advantage in rebounds.
On Friday at 7:00 p.m., Barton will take on league-foe Lees-McRae in its home opener at Wilson Gymnasium while Belmont Abbey faces Southern Wesleyan on the road Tuesday starting at 7:00 p.m.
