Box Score

MISENHEIMER, N.C. - The Pfeiffer men's basketball team (10-10, 7-8 CC) withstood an upset attempt by Belmont Abbey (1-21, 1-14) and escaped Merner Gym with a 69-68 victory on Tuesday night. AJ Clark led the Falcons with 24 points and was one of three players who scored in double figures. Andrew Guerrero added 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds, while reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week Mike Smith netted 10 points.

Nick Hough led the Crusaders with 18 points and Drexler Clark scored 15 points off the bench. Ray Chen tallied 14 points and seven assists as Belmont Abbey dropped their 10th straight contest.

The lead never extended past five points for either team as the game that saw 10 ties and 15 lead changes.

Pfeiffer took a 36-35 lead into the break as Guerrero had 10 points and two three pointers in the opening half.

The Crusaders took a 61-59 lead with a basket in the lane by Clark with 5:24 to play. However, the Crusaders would never lead again the rest of the way.

Clark answered with a triple on the other end to reclaim the lead for the Falcons. After a defensive stop, Guerrero went to the line and converted. The Falcons lead moved to five at 66-61 with over two minutes to play, but the Crusaders would answer with a three pointer. Smith's layup moved the lead to four before a pair of Abbey free throws with eight seconds cut the lead in half.

Pfeiffer missed on numerous attempts from the charity stripe down the stretch, going just 1-for-6 from the line in the game's final three minutes. However, the one that was made (by Clark) turned out to be the deciding points as his free throw put Pfeiffer up 69-66 with four seconds to go. The Crusaders hit two free throws with two seconds left but were unable to pull off the upset.

Pfeiffer shot 45.1 percent from the field and went just 17-for-33 from the free throw line. The Falcons held a 40-36 advantage on the boards and a 24-10 lead in points in the paint.

Belmont Abbey shot 35.6 percent from the field and committed 14 turnovers. The Crusaders made just nine of their 27 attempts from beyond the arc and went just 10-for-35 (28.6 percent) from the field in the second half.

The Falcons return to action on Saturday night as they host Limestone at 7:30 p.m.