BANNER ELK, N.C. -- The Royals jumped out to a 21-5 lead and never looked back, as they went on to route Lees-McRae (0-3, 3-7) 70-44 in the Williams Gymnasium Thursday night.

Winning their sixth straight, the Royals (3-0, 7-4) remain one of three unbeaten teams in the Conference Carolinas.

The Royals' defense, ranked 14th in defensive-field goal percentage in DII (37.6), suffocated the Lees-McRae offense, holding the Bobcats to 30.6 percent (15-49) from the field and a season-low 44 points – 18 points fewer than their previous low. The 44 points is also the fewest allowed by the Royals during head coach Wes Long's three years at the helm.

“Tonight's defensive performance was probably our best of the season, so I'm really pleased with our guys,” said Long. “Guarding like that is what we want to be known for.”

The Royals also took the liberty of shutting down the conference's 13th leading scorer, Daniel Sepokas (14.3 ppg), holding him to just six points on the night.

Leading for all 40 minutes, the Royals' lead peaked at 64-30, when senior Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) hit a three-point jumper with six minutes remaining in regulation to go up by 34 points. Hopkins' 12 points were accompanied by Daniel Bailey's (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ) season-high 16 points on seven-of-10 shooting.

“Lees-McRae is not an easy place to go play, and Coach [Scott] Polsgrove is doing a nice job of building that program to a competitive level,” said Long. “Conference road wins against well-coached, quality opponents are satisfying.”

Long and the Royals, slated to face St. Andrews Presbyterian College (1-2, 4-6) on Monday, January 10 at 7:30 pm, are excited to be back in front of a jam-packed Ovens Athletic Center.

“We are looking forward to our students being back on campus for the game on Monday,“ Long said, “and we will work really hard this weekend to get prepared for a quality St. Andrews team.”