DUE WEST, S.C.- Queens University of Charlotte fell in a hard-fought contest to Erskine 86-80 Thursday evening.  With the loss, the Royals drop to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference while the Fleet improve to 1-4 overall and 1-1 among conference opponents.

The contest saw eight lead changes and one tie during the Conference Carolinas event.  Erskine was able to put points up on the board early as they took and immediate lead over the Royals. But the Royals would not roll over for the Fleet. The game remained very close throughout the first half with the Fleet taking a small 38-33 advantage into the break. 

Following halftime, Erskine began to pull away and would eventually build a 60-49 lead.  Queens struggled to make baskets from all areas of the floor.  From field goal range, Erskine hit 28/60 (46.7%) to Queens' 25/62 (40.3%).  From behind the arc, the Fleet hit 29.6% to the Royals' 23.8% outscoring them 24-15. Queens had the advantage in free throw attempts (43-30) but were only able to convert for 25 points from the line, while Erskine was good for 22 points from the charity stripe.  Queens also out rebounded the Fleet 45-35.

Queens' Kevin Fowler led the way for the Royals as he put up 17 points and gathered 11 boards on the evening.  Reggie Hopkins and Patrick Fox contributed 16 points each for Queens.

 Nick Riley led all scorers with 23 points while freshman guard Dejan Nedelkovski earned 21 of his own.  Wright scored 18 points and posted10 rebounds.

The Royals will take to the court again on December 8 as they head to Lenoir-Rhyne for a game scheduled for 7:00 PM.  Erskine will hit the road this Saturday as they plan to take on Barton College at 7:30 PM.