On Tuesday night, however, the Falcons’ future was foggy until Shakil Brew hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to seal Pfeiffer’s 102-95 win over a tough Belmont Abbey squad.

“Shakil Brew has been as good as anyone in the league over the past seven games,” said Pfeiffer head coach Dave Davis. “His 3-pointer sealed the victory for us. What a crucial, huge, big shot for him to hit. Terrence (Baxter) did a good job and made a made a smart decision to kick the ball out to Shakil.”

Baxter’s intelligence and Brew’s heroics were needed on two fronts. First, Belmont Abbey was hitting from all angles, shooting a whopping percent for the game. To make matters worse, Pfeiffer’s jack-of-all-trades, Tony Bailey, suffered an achilles tendon injury early in the contest. Those two factors played a noticeable role in the contest.

“They shot the ball unbelievably well. It’s hard to win when someone shoots 66 percent against you,” said Davis, whose team improved to 21-3 and 16-0 in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference.

“And Tony Bailey does so many things for us that don’t show up in a stat sheet that we were lost without him.”

But with Bailey on the floor in the opening minutes, Pfeiffer was definitely in sync. In fact, it opened the game on a 10-2 spurt that was spearheaded by Emory Smith. Smith netted two 3s and a layup in the run, while Dwayne Bell got a layup of his own to account for the early Falcon offense.

Belmont Abbey answered the bell, pulling to within three at 25-22 behind the play of Byron Johnson and Thristan Andrew. Not satisfied with that charge, Belmont Abbey sliced the lead to one at 31-30 with 8:53 left in the first half by pounding the ball inside on the smaller Falcons.

Nem Sovic, who finished with a game-high 27 points, and Baxter, who had 22, rallied the Falcons at that point. Baxter hit a 3 and Sovic worked his magic inside to give Pfeiffer a 38-34 lead with 5:59 left until halftime.

In the next few minutes, however, Belmont Abbey made the big shots and went on a 9-0 run that gave it a 43-38 lead.

Belmont-Abbey led Pfeiffer 57-55 at the half. Despite the score, though, Davis knew his troops were ready for war.

“Even though we were down at the half, I felt very good about where we stood because I know that they have to be tired,” said Davis. “They don’t have the depth that we have. I know our guys are more rested than theirs are.”

That advantage paid off for Pfeiffer early in the second half. The Falcons blasted Belmont Abbey with a 14-4 run to open the half, giving them a 69-61 lead with 15:38 remaining in the game. Baxter was the reason for the ruckus, leading the way with six points during the run.

Belmont Abbey refused to lay down and actually took an 80-78 lead behind the play of Sturdivant and Johnson.

The teams traded mini-runs until the 2:51 mark, when Jay Moody hit a 3 that put Belmont Abbey down and seemingly out at 94-88. However, Johnson converted a three-point play to make the score 94-91 with 2:15 left.

Sovic answered with a three-point play of his own, but Belmont Abbey got two crucial layups to make the score 97-95 with 59 seconds left.

On the next possession, however, Brew sealed the deal with his 3-point dagger. Sovic was fouled seconds later and hit both free throws to finalize matters at 102-95.

Although a win is a win, this was a much tougher contest than Pfeiffer has had most of the year. It’s also the type of contest Davis expects from here on out.

“We’d better be ready for it,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. With that national ranking (15th) comes a big bullseye. Every time we play, we’re getting someone’s best shot.”

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NOTES: League-leading Belmont Abbey (16-1) beat Pfeiffer (9-8) 92-78 in the women’s game. Cissily Hunter scored 26 for the Crusaders, while Candace Phifer had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Falcons. ... Belmont Abbey’s Latoya Ramsey, a freshman from South Rowan, scored seven points. Former West Rowan star Ebony Pharr added four for the Crusaders.

BELMONT ABBEY (95) — Copeny 7, Crawford 6, Sturdivant 18, Taylor 3, Woods 6, Arnold 6, Andrew 14, Johnson 22, Hudson 13.

PFEIFFER(102) — Bailey, Buff 1, Mason, Baxter 22, Jackson 8, Smith 12, Sovic 27, Bell 10, Brew 11, Moody 11.

Belmont Abbey 57 38 — 95