CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) scored a game-high 16 points with eight assists in Queens University of Charlotte's (1-2), 68-51, win at Lenoir-Rhyne University (1-2) Saturday night.

“We will come back and fix it tomorrow.”

That was Royals head coach Wes Long's response after surrendering 23 offensive rebounds and 17 points off turnovers in Friday night's loss to Wingate University.

Returning to the court 24 hours later, the Royals showed that Long's message did not go unheard, as they improved in both areas -- allowing just 16 offensive rebounds and four points off turnovers.

It all started with defense for the Royals, who held a Bears team averaging 64.5 points on the season to just 51 on the night.

“We really defended hard all night,” said Long. “We were able to get stops when we needed.”

Though four of the Royals' five starters played 31-plus minutes, the team's defensive presence didn't skip a beat when they needed a breather.

“We got a good lift from several guys off the bench tonight. They came in and continued to defend hard and depth played into our favor late in the game.”

The Royals trailed for less than six minutes in the game. Hopkins gave Queens the lead for good after converting an and-one opportunity off of a jumper at the 5:35 mark in the first half.

Daniel Bailey (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ) chipped in seven first-half points while Brent Evans (Beaufort, S.C., Battery Creek) added eight rebounds (three offensive) to give the Royals a 27-24 advantage going into the break.

Shooting 54-percent (13-of-24) from the field in the second half, the Royals steadily pulled away from the Bears to pick up their first win of the season.

An 8-0 Queens run late in the second half pushed the Royals' advantage to 60-46, capped off by a free throw by Hopkins with 3:35 left.

Bailey finished with 13 points and Evans added four second-half rebounds for a game-high 12 on the night.

Junior forward Jeff Thomas (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and sophomore guard Alex Watkins (Charlotte, N.C.) scored in double figures for Lenoir-Rhyne, finishing with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bears connected on just 32 percent (18-of-56) of its shots and hit just one-of-17 three-point attempts while the Royals shot 45.8 percent overall (22-of-48) and 31.3 percent (five-of-16) from deep.

Shooting 40.2 percent on the season, Long offered a brief explanation for the jump in efficiency.

“We did a much better job converting the transition opportunities we had tonight.”

Queens also made the most of their opportunities from the free-throw line, converting 19-of-22, including a 10-of-11 from Hopkins.

The Royals return to the court Friday, November 26th when they travel to St. Petersburg, Fla. for a pair of games in the Sunshine State.

They will look to hit the .500 mark when they meet the University of Tampa (3-0) on a neutral floor Friday at 5:30 p.m.

On Saturday, they will battle the host school Eckerd College (4-1) at 7:30 p.m.