Box Score CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Senior forward Antonio Stabler (Garner, N.C., Wakefield) showed up huge for the Royals this afternoon, scoring a game-high 29 points to lead the Royals past the Tornado of King College. Queens University of Charlotte (8-6) improves to 5-3 in the league with the win, while King (11-3) drops to 6-2 in Conference Carolinas.
 
Stabler shot 8-of-13 from the floor, and 13-of-16 from the foul line to score his 29 points. He also recorded seven rebounds, and five steals. Freshman forward Tre McLean (Charleston, S.C., West Ashley) scored 12 points, and totaled eight boards, three assists and two steals. Senior guard Brandon Nichols (Fayetteville, N.C., Jack Britt) added 12 points, while senior forward Sam Johnson (Leicester, N.C., Asheville Christian) chipped in with eight.
 
The Royals led the entire first half of play despite King's efforts to take over control. After starting the game with a 7-2 spurt, King cut Queens' lead to one, but the Royals had another 7-0 push to put some space between them at the visiting Tornado. An 11-2 run later in the half would give Queens its largest lead of the half at 29-18 with 4:39 to play. King would cut the Royals' lead to seven just before the break.   
 
In the second, the Tornado tested the Royals' resilience with a 7-0 run to cut the home team's lead to three, 50-47. But the Royals didn't fold as they collected a number of key stops on the defensive end of the floor, while also putting the ball in the hoop to go on a 9-2 run extending their lead back out to 10, 59-49, with 2:20 to play. An emphatic dunk from Stabler would help to seal the deal as Queens held off King in the final minute of action.  
 
The Royals scored 42 of their points in the paint, and won the battle under the glass 30-27.
 
Eddie Piccinini led the Tornado with 20 points.
 
Queens will travel to take on conference rival Belmont Abbey on Monday at 7:30 p.m.