Phillip Wood sealed the win for JCSU with two free throws and tallied a career-high 31 points against Belmont Abbey
Box Score vs. Belmont Abbey
Belmont, NC – The Johnson C. Smith University men's basketball smothers Belmont Abbey College for a 95-91 road win on Saturday evening inside the Wheeler Center. JCSU improves to 3-3 overall, while the Crusaders fall to 5-3.
The Golden Bulls attacked Belmont from the beginning on both ends of the floor. Less than a minute into the game, JCSU jumped out with a 7-1 scoring spurt. Belmont eventually caught up and tied the contest 17-17 with 10:43 remaining in the first.
JCSU continued to overwhelm the Crusaders by scoring in waves. Senior guard
James Otey (Roanoke, VA) drilled a three with 3:27 left before halftime to put the Golden Bulls up 39-30. However, Belmont closed out the half with a 7-3 scoring advantage.
Johnson C. Smith held a 42-37 lead at the break. The team shot 57% (16-28) from the field, compared to 43% (13-30) shooting from the Crusaders. Junior center
Delonta Boyd (Washington, D.C.) had a first half team-high 10 points and four rebounds. Otey and junior guard
Phillip Wood (Suitland, MD) each chipped in seven points.
JCSU pushed the tempo in the second half. Belmont trailed by a game-high 15 points with 6:18 to play. The Golden Bulls maintained a lead and survived all scoring jolts by Belmont down the stretch.
With under a minute remaining, Williams missed the first free throw but made the second for an 89-85 JCSU lead. The Abbey failed to score on their next possession and fouled again. Wood swished both with 18 seconds left to widen the gap back to six.
On the next trip down the floor, Belmont drew a foul on a three point attempt. The ensuing foul sent Jay Council to the charity stripe, where he sank all three with 11 ticks left to cut the lead to 91-88.
Another Abbey foul sent junior guard
Trevin Parks (Hickory, NC) to the line. Parks made both to stretch the deficit to five with ten seconds left. Terrone Sheffey made good on a three with six seconds left to close the gap to 93-91. That was the final Belmont score of the contest.
After Sheffey's basket, Wood drained two free throws to seal the win.
Wood, who totaled seven points in the first half, finished with 31 in just 25 minutes on eight of 12 shooting. He shot a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line and made his first seven shots. Boyd followed with 18 points on nine of ten shooting. Parks posted 15 points, five assists and three steals. Otey had 11 points.
The Golden Bulls, which made seven of their first ten shots of the game, accumulated a 56 percent (32-57) effort from the floor.
JCSU had a 10-day layoff before their next contest on Tuesday, December 13th. The Golden Bulls travel to Charleston, WV to challenge the University of Charleston. The Golden Eagles squeaked by with 92-87 overtime victory earlier this season in Brayboy. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on the campus of Charleston.
