Box Score JCSU Men's Basketball Runs Past Belmont Abbey, 82-69

Charlotte, N.C. (Nov. 24, 2017) – The Johnson C. Smith University men's basketball used a high-pressure defensive outing forcing visiting Belmont Abbey into 19 turnovers in an 82-69 nonconference win at Brayboy Gym on Friday evening.

After the Crusaders took a 2-0 lead, JCSU quickly erased the deficit when Robert Davis (West Friendship, Md.) splashed a three-pointer from straight-away.  That shot gave JCSU a lead it would not relinquish.

JCSU then turned up the heat, cashing in on two straight steals on out-of-bounds plays, making it 7-2 early in the half.  JCSU then went up by 11 points (18-7) at the 15:05 mark after Roddric Ross (Forest City, N.C.) stole the ball and was able to hit senior Christian Kirchman (Roanoke, Va. ) in stride for the layup.

Belmont Abbey then trimmed the JCSU lead to just three points (36-33) after a three pointer from Jacob Wilson at the 4:22 mark.

A three pointer from Cayse Minor (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and a Davis layup once again put JCSU up by double-digits, 43-33 with 3:03 to go.  A pair of Michael Bowman (Salisbury, N.C.) free throws game the Golden Bulls their largest lead of the first have, 12 points (45-33) with 2:05 before the break.

BAC was able to cut it to 10 points at the halftime buzzer when Deion Lane got a layup to fall, providing the 47-37 score.

In the second half, Belmont Abbey cut the JCSU lead to 56-50 with 13:10 remaining after forcing a JCSU turnover and converting the miscue into a John Bowen dunk.  JCSU responded again, extending the lead to 15 points (65-50) with 10:46 to go.

JCSU's lead would surge to lead by 20 points on two different occasions down the stretch while the Crusaders never got the Golden Bull lead below 13 points the rest of the way, with JCSU taking the 82-69 win.

As a team, JCSU shot 54.2% from the field on a 32-of-59 effort and hit 8-of 17 (47.1%) from long range.  JCSU was also efficient from the free throw line, hitting 10-of-12 for 83.3%.  Belmont Abbey finished shooting 42.1% (24-of-57) and 33.3% (9-of-27) from distance.

The Crusaders had three players score in double-figures with Deion Lane leading the way with 19 points.  DeQuam Abrom and Jacob Wilson had 16 and 11 points, respectively.

The Golden Bulls got a game-high 26 points from Robert Davis. Davis went 11-of-16 from the field and was 3-of-7 from long range.  Roddric Ross had 20 points and finished 4-of-7 from long range and hit 7-of-15 from the field.  Ross also contributed team-best six rebounds.  Christian Kirchman had 10 points and a team-high six assists.

With the win, JCSU improves to 5-2 on the season while Belmont Abbey drops to 3-3.