HICKORY, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team, currently ranked second in the nation, defeated Lenoir-Rhyne on the road this evening by a score of 75-55. The win improves the Royals' record to 26-1 on the year and 18-1 in South Atlantic Conference play. The Bears fall to 11-15 on the season and 9-11 following the loss.
 
Todd Withers led the Royals one rebound shy of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. Mike Davis added 11 points while Ike Agusi and Lewis Diankulu scored 10 points each. Jalin Alexander chipped in with nine points while Shaun Willett totaled seven points. The Royals as a team recorded 25 assists with Davis' six leading the way. Agusi, Withers, and Daniel Carr recorded four assists apiece. Queens also dominated under the glass totaling 40 rebounds to Lenoir-Rhyne's 25.
 
Tonight's game featured zero ties and zero lead changes as the Royals had control from the beginning. A three-pointer from Davis at 19:00 started an 8-0 run for Queens at the start of the half, but by 10:22 they held just a one-point, 17-16, lead over Lenoir-Rhyne. A 7-0 spurt soon followed to put the Royals in front, 24-16 just before the under-8 media timeout, and by the break they had increased the margin to 12 taking a 33-21 lead into the locker room.
 
Queens ran away with the game quickly in the second half opening with a 13-5 push to grow the lead to 20, 46-26, by 14:33. The margin then swelled to as much as 26 before the final horn sounded with Queens holding a 20-point victory.
 
After shooting 56.5-percent from the floor in the opening half, Queens finished the game with a 53.6 shooting percentage. The Bears were held to 37.5-percent shooting in the game.
 
Branford Rogers led the Bears this evening with 14 points while Djibrill Diallo totaled 12 points.
 
Queens will close its regular season at No. 1 Lincoln Memorial University on Saturday, Feb. 24. The Royals fell to the Railsplitters in the first game between the two by a score of 73-72, to now trail in the series, 13-3. The loss snapped the Royals' 16-game winning streak that matched a program-best start from a season ago. Shaun Willett totaled a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and 2-of-2 shooting from the three to lead Queens. Daniel Carr followed with 14 points. The pair helped Queens' bench outscore LMU's 41-7. Ike Agusi added 12 points and five assists, Mike Davis totaled eight points, and Todd Withers totaled seven points and eight rebounds. Davis also recorded five of Queens' 14 steals in the game.
 
In addition, Saturday's game will be a battle between the top two teams in the nation for a share of the SAC Regular Season Title. It will also be streamed on ESPN 3 as part of the NCAA DII Basketball Showcase.