Box Score ANDERSON, S.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team needed a win today to help secure home court advantage for the quarterfinal round of the South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship beginning next week, and today's 80-68 win over Anderson University did just that. The Royals (16-12) close the regular season tied for second in the league with a 13-9 record, while Anderson's (14-14) season comes to an end with a 10-12 league record.
Queens forced the Trojans to commit 17 turnovers converting them into 25 points to help collect the 12-point victory.
Jedarian Jackson shot 10-of-16 from the floor to lead the Royals today with a season-high 23 points and nine rebounds.
Rob Lewis followed with 18 points, while
Marquis Rankin added 12 points and nine assists.
After going back and forth with the Trojans in the early minutes of the opening half, Queens would use a 12-0 run to build a 29-19 lead over Anderson with 3:47 to play. Having not scored since the 8:15 mark, the Trojans' Chris Ross ended the home team's drought with a jumper in the paint at 2:52. Anderson would cut Queens' lead to four, 33-29, at the halftime break.
The Trojans carried that momentum into the second half pulling within two of the Royals on a few occasions before finally tying the game back up at 46-46 with 13:26 to play. However a 6-2 run by Queens, with all six points coming from Jackson, would quickly put the visiting Royals back ahead by four. A lay-in by
Darryl White coupled with a three-pointer from Rankin then put Queens ahead 57-48 with 11:21 left in regulation.
Anderson had one final push pulling within three of Queens with 9:13 to play, but the Royals once again had an answer using a pair of layups and a triple to increase their lead back out to 10, 64-54, with 7:14 to play. The Royals would lead by as much as 13 points en route to collecting their 16
th win of the season.
Queens' bench contributed 42 points in today's win, and the Royals outscored the Trojans 36-24 in the paint.
Myson Jones led the Trojans with 16 points on the day, while Nick Jackson and Ross each added 10 points.
Carson-Newman, Newberry and Queens each finished the season with identical 13-9 League records. In the SAC tiebreaker scenario, Carson-Newman was 3-1 in series with Newberry and Queens to earn the No. 2 seed. Newberry swept the season series from Queens and will be the No. 3 seed, leaving Queens at No. 4.
The 2015 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship quarterfinals will be played at campus sites on Wednesday, March 4 before moving to Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. for the semifinals and finals on March 7 and 8. The South Atlantic Conference's Tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, March 4 (at Highest Seeds)Game 1: #1 Lincoln Memorial vs. #8 Brevard, 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Queens vs. #5 Wingate, 7:00 p.m.
Game 3: #2 Carson-Newman vs. #7 Coker, 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #3 Newberry vs. #6 Catawba, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 7 (Timmons Arena, Greenville, S.C.)Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 5:30 p.m.
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 8 (Timmons Arena, Greenville, S.C.)Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 4:00 p.m.