CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Queens men's basketball locked up their first outright Conference Carolinas regular-season championship since 2002-03 with a 87-82 win against Belmont Abbey at Ovens Athletic Center Saturday night.

In front of a packed house, the Royals (20-6, 16-2 Conference Carolinas) honored Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) during the team's pregame Senior Day ceremony. Head coach Wes Long presented the program's all-time leading scorer, who was accompanied by his parents Melvin and Melissa Armstrong and his grandmother Odessa Griggs, with a framed jersey to commemorate his four-year career.

Though it was a night to celebrate the seniors, it was freshman Brent Evans (Beaufort, S.C., Battery Creek) who stole the show with a career-high 32 points and 13 rebounds.

Evans got the game started with an easy layup on the first possession to go up 2-0. The Royals fed off of the crowd to jump out to 12-4 lead four minutes in. The Crusaders would rally back in the following minutes and would take an 18-16 lead at the 12:53 mark. But the Royals defense would hold off the Abbey late in the half, allowing for a 7-0 run over three minutes before taking a 39-34 lead into the break.

The Royals started the second half with another 7-0 run, capped by a Daniel Bailey (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ) jumper, to push the lead to 48-36. With 10:24 remaining, the Crusaders refused to go away – cutting the lead to three thanks to 13 second-half points from Darryl Durham.

Evans and Hopkins would not be deterred, combining for 30 second-half points to push the Royals back up by as much as 10 with 3:34 remaining.

Hopkins finished the game with 20 points and three assists in his final regular-season game.

At the top of the standings, the Royals head into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed and will meet Belmont Abbey in the quarterfinals on Monday night.

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