Tigerville—A fourth-quarter NGU rally fell short on Saturday afternoon resulting in a 65-57 loss to Belmont Abbey College in Hayes Gymnasium.

Karen Donehew led North Greenville in the scoring column with 15-points as well as in rebounding with seven total boards. Donehew was six of 10 from the floor and knocked down three from deep in four attempts. Journey Muhammed was the only other scorer in double-figures for NGU with 10-points on four of 14 shooting.

Abbey built up a six-point lead after the first quarter which was enough to keep the Crusaders from North Carolina ahead of the home-standing Crusaders from Tigerville. Abbey led by as many as 10-points multiple times in the final half.

North Greenville battled back in the third frame to cut the deficit to just three points on a lay-up by Chelsea Martin. A free throw made It 41-39 with 1:52 left before the fourth. The two teams traded jabs in the fourth period. NGU made eight shots in the first minutes of the half including a trend of four consecutive makes.

BAC was equal to the task answering North Greenville’s makes with scores of their own. The final basket of the game for NGU came with 1:42 remaining when a Muhammed lay-up cut a once five-point lead to 60-57. NGU failed to capitalize on its next five shots while Abbey connected on a pair of free throws and an “and one” to finish off the road win.

The loss drops North Greenville to 4-6 on the season and 3-4 in league play. The Crusaders on Wednesday when they host Southern Wesleyan at 5:30.