Central, SC - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors Dropped their third consecutive Conference Carolinas Contest on Saturday Afternoon to the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders. 

The Warriors were led in scoring by Che Smith with 12 points, followed by 11 points from Eric Hackett and 10 points from Dyren Brown. Reco Hallmon and Aaron Tims each had a team-high 10 rebounds. Smith and Marcus Long had 3 assists as well. As a team, the Warriors shot 23-54 (42.6%) from the field, 7-20 (35.0%) from behind the arc, and 4-10 (40.0) from the free throw line. 



Game Vitals:

Final: Southern Wesleyan University 57, Belmont Abbey College 72

Records: Southern Wesleyan University (3-17, 2-8) Belmont Abbey College (8-12, 6-4)



How It Happened:

Dyren Brown returned to the team for today's game, but they were without Jonathan Taylor   who had started the last five games. Raevon Allen was reinstated to the lineup in place of the Freshman, alongside Che Smith, Griffin Effenberger, Reco Hallmon, and Aaron Tims. Southern Wesleyan needed 2:05 to get their first bucket through the form of a Tims put-back layup. They had a solid start to the game, with 6 points from both Tims and Hallmon in the first 5 1/2 minutes to go up 8-4. Brown hit two 3s shortly after checking into the game for the first time at the 14:00 mark. Belmont Abbey began to take control of the game with a 10-0 run over a 2:00 stretch as Mason Taylor and Kyle Frazier started to get going. Effenberger hit a 3 for SWU to cut the lead to 10 with 25 seconds left, but Mason Taylor answered on the next possession with a 3 of his own to give him 15 points in the half and increase the Crusader lead back to 13. 

The Warriors again had a good stretch in the early stages of the second half as an Eric Hackett 3 to cut the lead to 6 at the 14:00 mark followed by a high-flying Raevon Allen alley-oop on the next possession. However, Belmont Abbey immediately answered with a run of their own, capped by another Kyle Frazier 3 to go up 18 with 6:00 left. Che Smith picked up what seemed to be a foot injury, and the Crusaders were most successful in his absence. They did a good job of forcing the reserve ball-handlers into turnovers and capitalizing on those with buckets. In fact, Belmont Abbey won both the turnover margin 17-10 and points off turnover category 22-5. That was a key to their victory, alongside a 16-4 domination in second chance points. Mason Taylor finished with a game-high 24 points followed by Kyle Frazier with 21. Eric Hackett had a couple of late buckets for the Warriors to get into double-digits, joining Smith and Dyren Brown who scored 10 points and hauled in 3 rebounds in just 12 minutes. 



What's Next:

The Warriors have the next six days off before traveling to Florence, South Carolina for a meeting with the Francis Marion University Patriots on Saturday, February 3rd. They remain on the road for the next two games, facing off with North Greenville on Wednesday, February 7th, and Barton on Saturday, February 10th.