Box Score CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team opened South Atlantic Conference play this evening with a home game against Lenoir-Rhyne University. The Royals defeated the Bears 77-52 in Curry Arena to bring their overall record to 1-2, while their conference record sits at 1-0. The Bears now sit at 0-3 on the year and 0-1 in the SAC.
 
Queens was led by junior guard Rob Lewis who scored 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the floor. He also shot 3-of-5 from the three and 5-of-7 from the foul line. Nkosi Ali added 12 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
 
The Royals started the second half with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 32-32 after trailing the entire first half of action. A layup by Rob Lewis would give Queens its first lead of the game, 34-32, with 17:25 on the clock. They would go up by as much as seven before the Bears found a spurt to cut the home team's lead to one, 39-38, at 14:43.
 
Queens then began scoring in bunches in the final 10 minutes to take control of the game. They would see their largest lead of the night when three-points scored the old-fashioned way by Ben Richter followed an emphatic dunk by Todd Withers. The five-point swing put the Royals ahead by 26 points, 77-51, with 1:11 on the clock. A free-throw with 33 seconds to play gave the Bears their final point of the night.
 
Queens shot 49.1-percent from the floor this evening and out-rebounded the Bears, 41-34. Thirty-eight of Queens' 77 points were scored in the paint.
 
At the half, Queens trailed Lenoir-Rhyne 30-25 having overcome an 11-point deficit with 13:57 to play. An 8-0 run by the Bears at the start of play helped the visitors build their lead, but a layup from Queens' Sean Morgan began a 10-0 run that would bring the home team to within one of the Bears at just under the five minute mark. Lenoir-Rhyne then stretched their lead back out to seven with 15 seconds on the clock before Rob Lewis knocked down a pair of free-throws to cut their advantage to five at the break.
 
Will Perry led the Bears with 14 points, while Rob Noyes added 11 points. Reed Lucas scored 10 points.
 
The Royals are back at home Saturday afternoon against No. 25 Lincoln Memorial University. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.