Live Audio: Queens Sports Network
Phil Constantino (pxp)

Live Video: Bears Sports Network

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 25th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (5-2, 0-0 SAC) opens South Atlantic Conference play on Wednesday evening, on the road, versus No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne University (7-0, 1-0 SAC), in a meeting of the SAC's only two ranked teams. The Royals and the Bears will meet for the 19^th time with Queens holding a 13-5 all-time advantage. Queens has won each of the last five meetings including the most recent encounter on Feb. 28, 2018, when the Royals topped the Bears at home, 73-61, in the opening round of the SAC Tournament.

Opening tipoff from Shuford Gymnasium in Hickory, North Carolina, is scheduled for 8 p.m.
 
Quick Facts
No. 25/23 Queens Royals (5-2, 0-0 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Last time out, Van Turner Jr. scored a career-high 21 points, but Queens fell to Belmont Abbey College, 76-55, snapping a four-game winning streak. Turner scored all of his points from behind the 3-point line, shooting 7-for-12 from distance. Shaun Willett followed with 16 points, while Lewis Diankulu secured eight rebounds. Daniel Carr scored seven points. BAC shot 49.1 percent from the field and held Queens to 36.7-percent shooting. The Crusaders generated 25 points of off 21 turnovers by the Royals and outrebounded Queens 33-31. Belmont Abbey closed the game a 21-4 run to seal the victory.

-Several Royals rank near the top of the League's statistical categories, three weeks into the season. Willett is sixth in the SAC in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game, and leads the League in rebounding, with 10.6 rebounds per game. Carr currently ranks tied for seventh in the SAC in scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game, while Diankulu is the League's fifth-leading rebounder with 7.3 boards per game.

-For another week, Queens remained in the official coaches' poll with a No. 25 national ranking in the most recent edition of the NABC/Division II Rankings released on Tuesday. The placement in the second official poll of the season marked the 47th consecutive week in which Queens has been featured in the national rankings dating back to the first poll of the 2015-2016 season on Nov. 24, 2015. The Royals opened the year at No. 7 in the coaches' poll and have cracked the top-10 nationally during each of the last four seasons. Additionally, Queens appeared at No. 23 nationally in the D2SIDA Media Poll released on Tuesday. The Royals are tied for third in the Southeast Region with a region record of 4-1 while receiving one first-place vote.

-Queens opened its season in the prestigious Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic presented by Hillyard. The Royals won their first game, 101-87, over William Jewell College before dropping their second game, 87-74, to Northern State University in a rematch of last year's national semifinal. The elite field featured the last two national champions and three of last year's four national semifinalists.

-The loss to Northern State put an end to the Royals' streak of consecutive unbeaten starts to the season. In the last three years, Queens had previously opened a combined 44-0 before losing a game. The streak began with a 12-0 start to the 2015-2016 campaign which at the time set program records for both longest winning streak and best start to a season. The Royals eclipsed or tied both of those records during each of the next two years, both times opening 16-0 before losing. Queens was the only NCAA men's basketball program to open each of the last three seasons at least 10-0 before losing (more than 1,200 NCAA institutions).

-The loss also marked the earliest loss in a season since Queens fell in its season opener to Georgia College on Nov. 14, 2014, and the first regular-season non-conference loss since falling to Livingstone on Dec. 3, 2014. The Royals had won 23 straight non-conference regular-season games.

-Head Coach Bart Lundy is in his sixth season since returning to Queens and his 11^th overall at the helm in Charlotte. In 17 years as a head coach in Division I and II, Lundy has posted an overall record of 333-170 (.663 win pct.) and a record at Queens of 237-83 (.743 win pct.). Lundy has led Queens to all three of its Elite Eight appearances.
 
No. 23/17 Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (7-0, 1-0 SAC)

-LR is 7-0 to start the season and has cracked the national rankings for the first time since appearing at No. 20 on Dec. 15, 2015. The Bears are ranked No. 23 in the official coaches' poll and No. 17 in the media poll. Additionally, LR is ranked second in the Southeast Region by the media, receiving one first-place vote.

-The Bears are led by the backcourt duo of Cory Thomas and Djibrill Diallo, both of whom have been named SAC Player of the Week this season. Thomas is tied for seventh in the league in scoring, averaging 17.0 points per game, while Diallo is eighth with 16.9 points per. Diallo has twice hit buzzer-beaters to propel LR to victory, including in the Bears' most recent win at Limestone, 76-75, on Saturday. Both Diallo and Thomas have scored in double figures in six of the season's first seven games.

-In Saturday's win, Diallo scored 16 points while Thomas added 15. Furman University transfer Jon Jean led LR with a career-high 17 points.

-Head Coach Everick Sullivan is in his third year overall and his third season at Lenoir-Rhyne with a coaching record of 28-33 (.459 win pct.). As a collegiate athlete at the University of Louisville under Head Coach Denny Crum, Sullivan played in three NCAA tournaments and finished among the Cardinals all-time leaders in scoring (15th), assists (ninth), 3-point percentage (tenth) and dunks (tenth).