HICKORY, N.C. –
Shaun Willett recorded his third double-double in four games, and set a new career-high with 22 points, as the seventh-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (3-1) pulled away from Young Harris College (0-2) to win it 85-69 on Saturday night at Shuford Gymnasium in the final game of the Conference Challenge. Willett grabbed 11 rebounds and added seven assists to notch the sixth double-double of his career.
Queens took a 10-point lead, 32-22, with 6:13 remaining in the first half when Willett drained the first of three made 3-point field goals. However, Young Harris' Justin Jones answered with a 5-0 individual run that cut the lead to five just over a minute later. Jones paced four Mountain Lions in double figures with 15 points on the evening. The five-point lead held, as Queens carried a 41-36 advantage into the break.
Out of the locker room, an 8-0 Queens run started by a
Blake Morrow 3-pointer stretched the lead to 13 points, 49-36, with 18:03 remaining. Morrow finished with a season-high 15 points on five of nine 3-point shooting.
After Young Harris made a run and twice cut the deficit to four points, Queens countered with a 17-1 run that extended the lead to 20 points, 82-62, with 3:28 left.
Daniel Carr scored a career-high 19 points with six assists.
Armoni Lee added 10 points while
Lewis Diankulu scored nine points and secured seven rebounds.
The Royals held the Mountain Lions to 38.8-percent shooting and 25 percent from the 3-point line while shooting at a 49.1-percent clip from the floor and a 44.7-percent rate from distance.
Queens returns to action on Wednesday night in its home opener versus the University of West Georgia. Opening tipoff from the Levine Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 and all Queens students will receive free admission with their Queens ID. Live play-by-play coverage will be available on the
Queens Sports Network.
