Lions Crush Crusaders in Season-Opening Victory

WINGATE, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team opened the 2014-15 season with an 85-55 victory over Belmont Abbey on Friday afternoon in the OrthoCarolina Tip-Off Challenge hosted by Wingate University. Mars Hill improves to 1-0 while Belmont Abbey drops to 0-1.

Four Lions finished in double figures, led by Justin Yeargin with 18 points. Michael Carson scored 13 points, with 10 each from Isaiah Cuthbertson and Patrick Monroe. Cuthbertson pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds.

Drexler Clark led Belmont Abbey with 14 points, followed by Markel Pollard with 11 points. Pollard pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Crusaders.

Mars Hill led from start to finish in the first half, pulling ahead to a 4-0 lead before a Clark three-pointer pulled the Crusaders to within one, 4-3. The Lions went on a 25-6 run following Clark's basket to take a 29-10 lead with 7:40 to play in the opening half. Mars Hill led by 15, 38-23 at halftime.

The Lions made their first five shots in the second half to take a 49-23 advantage with just over 16 minutes to play. Jalen Witherspoon's layup with 9:20 to play gave the Lions a 65-33 lead, their largest of the game as Mars Hill led by no fewer than 24 points the rest of the way. Mars Hill shot 61 percent from the field in the second half.

The Lions outrebounded Belmont Abbey 44-35 and shot 48.4 percent compared to 34.6 percent for Belmont Abbey. Mars Hill shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe in the first half. The Mars Hill bench outscored the Belmont Abbey reserves 39-11. Belmont Abbey committed 17 turnovers resulting in 25 points for the Lions.

Mars Hill will play No. 21 Limestone tomorrow afternoon in Cuddy Arena at 5 p.m.