MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Just two days after scoring a career-high 31 points against rival Belmont Abbey, Queens' Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) exploded for 27 points and five assists Saturday night, as the Royals topped Conference Carolinas rival Pfeiffer 83-77 in Merner Gym.

Extending their win streak to eight games, the Royals (5-0, 9-4) keep pace with conference-leading Limestone (6-0, 11-2) and extend their cushion to two games ahead of the third-place Falcons.

Coming off of a week in which he averaged 28.3 points and 14.3 rebounds to earn the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week and Division II Bulletin's Top Performer of the Week, Chris Woods was held to just 17 points – more than five shy of his season average of 22.7.

The Royals, ranked fourth in field goal percentage defensive (37.2 percent) in Division II, held Pfeiffer to  38.5 percent from the field in the first half, taking a 40-32 lead into the break.

Building the lead to as much as11, the Royals appeared to have a firm hold on the game. But for the second game in a row, the Royals allowed a double-digit lead to disintegrate down the stretch. The Falcons' Reggie Hollinger led the charge, scoring 19 of his 26 points in the second half. A pair of free throws from Woods capped off an 8-0 Pfeiffer run to tie the game at 75 with 2:47 remaining.

Daniel Bailey (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ) followed a Woods missed layup with a two-pointer jumper to put the Royals ahead for good.

Winning their fourth consecutive conference road game, fifth overall, the Royals are off to their best start in-conference since they began the 2006-07 campaign 5-0.

Looking ahead, the Royals will aim to improve to 6-0 in the conference and expand their winning streak to nine games when they visit Barton () on Tuesday night.