GAFFNEY, S.C.- The Limestone College men's basketball team defeated Queens 84-76 in Conference Carolinas action on Saturday night at the Timken Center. The Saints improve to 6-8 in the conference (8-13 overall) as the Royals slip to 5-9 in the league (6-15 overall).
The Saints' Anthony Middleton (Holly Hill, S.C.) just missed recording a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds. He also posted four blocks and three assists. Michael Barrett (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored 18 points, while Stewart Clark (Atlanta, Ga.) chipped in 12.
The Royals' Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) scored a game-high 24 points on 9-12 shooting, including two 3-pointers. Daniel Bailey (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ) posted 16 boards. Patrick Fox (Eden, N.C. , Morehead) had 13 points.
Queens took a brief lead in the opening minutes of the first half, but Limestone took the lead after a three-pointer by Tyron Evans (Leesburg, Fla.) at the 16:43 mark. The Royals fought back and went ahead 10-9 with 13:22 left to play in the period, but Limestone gained momentum and went on an 18-7 run in the next six minutes to lead 30-17. Queens tried to close the scoring gap, but Limestone headed into the locker room with a 10-point advantage (41-31).
The teams posted close field-goal percentages in the first half, with Queens going 13-29 (44.8%) and Limestone going 14-34 (41.2%).
The Saints started out strong in the second half, increasing their lead to 14 points at 17:52. The Royals started to close in, and took a brief lead at 10:13, 57-56. Limestone regained the lead, but Queens fought back to take its last lead of the game, 62-61, with 8:23 left on the clock. The Saints played hard in the final minutes to get the win and only allowed the visitors 12 points in the final eight minutes.
Queens out-rebounded the Saints 41-33, but Limestone held the edge on shooting with a 44.1 field-goal percentage (26-59) to the Royals 43.7% (31-71). Limestone had 25 points from free-throws (71.4%/25-35) compared to Queens' 9 points (60%/9-15).
Limestone travels to Banner Elk, N.C., on February 9 to take on Lees-McRae at 7:30 p.m. The Royals travel to Wilson, N.C., to play Barton College on February 9 at 7:30 p.m.
