BELMONT  - The UNCP men's basketball team took the host Belmont Abbey Crusaders to the wire, but in the end were doomed by 23 turnovers in falling the hosts by a 62-64 final on Tuesday at the Wheeler Center in Belmont.

The loss drops the Braves to 1-1 on the season while the Crusaders improve to 2-0.

In a rough first five minutes, UNCP was able to stake out an 11-8 advantage behind balanced scoring from their five starters, including four tough points from center George Blakeney.  UNCP increased their lead to 19-8 behind an 11-0 run that was capped off by an emphatic fast break one-handed dunk by sophomore Shahmel Brackett, forcing the Crusader's head coach Stephen Miss to use a time out.

The Braves used a 13-6 rebounding advantage through the first 11:02 of the game to increase their lead to 28-12. Sophomore Ty Alston highlighted the scoring in the Braves run with two 3-point baskets from the top of the key.

The next five minutes were riddled with turnovers and fouls, and the only scoring came from four points by Belmont Abbey forward Kyle Phillips, with the Braves holding strong at 28-16 with 7:01 remaining in the half.

UNCP was only able to score two points through the next three minutes of action, allowing Belmont Abbey to mount an 8-2 run to narrow the scoring gap to 30-23 with 1:42 remaining, before Alston dropped in his seventh and eighth points of the half with a 20-foot jumper, increasing UNCP's lead to 32-23.  Belmont Abbey would close out the half with a 5-0 run to leave the game score at 32-28 at recess.

The second half started much like the first, with Belmont Abbey tying the score up at 32-32 and again at 37-37 but UNCP would score four unanswered points to take a 41-37 lead at the 13:30 mark of the half.  The Braves would push their lead to 48-42 with 9:54 to go behind two free throws by senior Chris Hargrove, but scores by the Crusaders and turnovers by UNCP on the next two possessions moved the hosts back within two points at 48-46 with 7:58 to go. A basket by the Crusader's Tyshawn Good would knot the score up again at 48-48 with 7:53 showing on the game clock.

The two teams would battle to a 53-52 score in favor of the Crusaders, and the 22nd turnover by UNCP would turn into two more points for Belmont Abbey, giving them a 55-52 lead with 5:19 remaining in the game.

The score would be pushed to 60-58 in favor of Belmont Abbey with 2:07 showing on the game clock, a block by a Nate Priest on a Crusader attempted floater and subsequent tip-in on a miss by Lamar Cross on the other end would tie the game back up at 60-60 with 1:24 showing on the game clock.

A bucket by Phillips on the other end would give the hosts a 62-60 advantage with 1:08 on the clock and a miss by UNCP on the other end and a foul by the Braves would put Richard Barbee at the line. He would make 1 of 2 to put the Crusaders up 63-60 with 33 seconds to go.

On UNCP's ensuing offensive possession, a missed jumper by Brackett would find the hands of Barbee, but a steal by K.J. Cooper would give UNCP the ball back following a jump ball underneath the UNCP basket with 15.7 seconds remaining.

A missed 3-point attempt by Alston would be tipped-in by Priest, cutting the Crusaders lead to 63-62 with 11.7 seconds remaining.

A foul by the Braves would send Terrone Sheffey to the line, and the sophomore would make his second free throw, giving Belmont Abbey the 64-62 lead with 10.5 seconds remaining.

A final 3-point attempt by Alston would find the front side of the iron, leaving UNCP with a 62-64 loss in their road opener.

The Braves were led by sophomore George Blakeney, who notched 11 points on 3 of 11 from the field. Fellow sophomores K.J. Cooper and Ty Alston notched 10 and eight points, respectively, on a combined 9 of 19 from the floor, with Alston finishing 2 of 5 from 3-point range.

The UNCP defense held Barbee, the Crusader's leading scorer, to just eight points in the loss and limited him to just 2 of 11 shooting from the floor.

UNCP will be back at it this weekend when they travel to Florence, S.C. to take part in the Zaxby's Tip-Off Classic. They will face St. Andrews on Friday and Coker on Saturday in nonconference matchups.