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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The fourth-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team meets Lenoir-Rhyne University on Thursday night in a South Atlantic Conference matchup, coming off of its first setback of the season. The game originally scheduled for Wednesday, but postponed due to inclement weather, is scheduled to tip on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Royals lead the all-time series with the Bears 10-5, having swept both meetings last year, winning 78-56 at home and 94-81 on the road.

Admission to today's game is free for all in attendance. Live video coverage will be available on the Queens Sports Network with Phil Constantino and John Short.

No. 4/5 Queens Royals (16-1, 8-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Queens suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to then-No. 5 Lincoln Memorial University 73-72 in front of a crowd of nearly 1,400 fans at the Levine Center. The Royals squandered a 14-point first half lead, as the loss put an end to a 16-game winning streak that tied program records for both winning streak, and best start to a season.

-Shaun Willett led the Royals in the losing effort with a career-high 19 points. In two games last week, Willett averaged 17 points per game, posting his second career double-double in the win at Newberry College on Jan. 10. That night Willett tied career-highs with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

-Queens is led by Todd Withers who is averaging a team-high 13.6 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game. Withers is 16^th in the SAC in scoring and third in rebounding. On Dec. 30 versus Tarleton State University, Withers grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and scored 11 points to record his 12^th career double-double and his fifth of the season. Since the start of December, Withers has scored in double figures in nine of 11 games and posted a double-figure rebounding performance on five occasions.

-This week Withers was named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List. The Bevo Francis Award is presented annually to the player who had the finest overall season in Small College Basketball (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA).

-With 1,098 career points, and 622 career rebounds, Withers ranks 11^th all-time at Queens in scoring, and seventh in rebounding. He is 142 points away from tying for 10th on the scoring list (1,240 points, Adrien Pritchard '96-'99), and two rebounds away from tying for sixth on the rebounding list (624, Antonio Stabler '09-'13).

-Mike Davis is 37 points away from reaching 1,500 in his career. Davis has compiled 1,463 career points, 811 of which were scored in his first two collegiate seasons at Francis Marion University, and 652 of which have been scored since joining Queens prior to last season.

-The Royals feature a balanced attack with four of five starters averaging double figures (Withers 13.6 PPG, Davis 11.5 PPG, Ike Agusi 10.8 PPG, and Jalin Alexander 10.6 PPG). Queens has featured seven different leading scorers in a game this season (Withers, Davis, Alexander, Agusi, Willett, Lewis Diankulu, Josh Van Weezep).

-In last week's NABC/Division II National Rankings, Queens reached No. 1 for the first time in program history and received 13 of a possible 16 first-place votes. Queens currently ranks No. 4 in the coaches' poll and No. 5 in the D2SIDA media poll. The Royals are also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region behind only LMU, receiving one of six first-place votes.

-Queens is the first ever Charlotte-area men's college basketball program to receive a No. 1 national ranking in its classification.

-Over the last three seasons, Queens has opened a combined 44-0 before losing, opening the 2015-2016 season 12-0, and opening the 2016-2017 season 16-0, prior to this season's 16-0 start.

-Queens is the only program in the nation, in all levels of NCAA competition, to have started each of the last three seasons 10-0 or better (More than 1,200 schools).

-The Royals have secured 12 of their 16 wins by double figures, and have compiled nine wins over teams with a record of .500 or better, two wins over regionally-ranked opponents and one win over a nationally-ranked opponent.

-Queens is beating opponents by an average of 15.4 points per game, which ranks No. 8 nationally.

-Queens is ranked in the coaches' poll for the 38^th consecutive week, a streak which began on Nov. 24, 2015, with the first poll of the 2015-2016 season. Queens has cracked the top 10 of the rankings during each of the previous two seasons.

-With a victory over Tarleton State University on Dec. 30, Queens completed its non-conference schedule unbeaten for the third consecutive season. The Royals last non-conference loss came versus Livingstone, 73-71, on Dec. 3, 2014. Queens has won 24 straight non-conference games including the postseason.

-The Royals are allowing 67.2 points per game which is the best mark in the South Atlantic Conference and tied for 25th in the nation. Queens holds its opponents to 39.6 percent shooting (No. 11 NCAA, No. 2 SAC), and is out-rebounding opponents by 9.2 rebounds per game (No. 12 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).
 
Lenoir-Rhyne University (7-8, 5-4 SAC)

-Lenoir-Rhyne last played eight days ago, defeating Wingate University 77-75 on Jan. 10, behind 16 points from Cory Thomas off the bench, who paced four Bears in double figures.

-Lenoir-Rhyne has won three consecutive games and currently sits in a three-way tie for fourth place in the league standings with Wingate and Coker College.

-The Bears are 5-2 at home this season, but just 2-5 away from home.

-LR is led by Thomas who averages 15.6 points per game (No. 8 SAC) and Djibril Diallo who averages 12.1 points per game (No. 23 SAC). Junior college transfer Bertrand Awana (8.3 PPG) leads the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 72.4 percent from the floor.