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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Riding a five-game winning streak, and off of a week of rest, the second-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team travels to rival Wingate University on Wednesday night for a South Atlantic Conference matchup. Opening tipoff from Cuddy Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m.

The Royals lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs, 20-14, and won the first meeting this season 74-58, on Jan. 3, at the Levine Center. After dropping both contests to Wingate during the regular season last year, Queens has won three straight over its conference rival by an average of 20 points per game. However, the Royals have not beaten the Bulldogs in Wingate since Dec. 10, 2005.

Live play-by-play coverage will be available on the Queens Sports Network with Phil Constantino and Reginald Walker.
 
Quick Facts

No. 2/3 Queens Royals (21-1, 13-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Queens most recently defeated Coker College last Wednesday night, 102-74, to win its fifth consecutive game. The Royals scored 60 points in the second half to win, their most points in a half this season, and eclipsed the 100 point barrier for the second time this year. Ike Agusi led six Royals in double figures, tying a career high with 20 points. Mike Davis added 16 points. Todd Withers recorded his 13^th career double-double and sixth of the season with 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Lewis Diankulu scored 13, and Jalin Alexander and Solomon Smith each scored 10 points.

-The Royals have found a new offensive stride over the last four games, averaging 93.5 points per game in that span. Queens averaged 74.3 points per game in its previous three contests.

-During the current five-game winning streak, Queens is beating opponents by an average of 19.2 points per game. On the season Queens is out-scoring opponents by an average of 16.3 points per, which ranks No. 6 nationally.

-The Royals rank 26^th in the nation, and No. 1 in the SAC in scoring defense, allowing 67.8 points per game. Queens has held 19 of its 22 opponents under their season scoring average.

-Queens has held its opponent to 70 points or less 13 times in 22 games. Only two opponents all season have scored more than 80 points in a game against Queens (Carson-Newman, Catawba). Queens has held opponents to 60 points or less four times.

-The Royals are holding opponents to 40.5-percent shooting (No. 16 NCAA, No. 2 SAC), and are out-rebounding opponents by 10 rebounds per game (No. 7 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).

-Queens is led by Withers who is averaging a team-high 14.2 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. Withers is 16^th in the SAC in scoring and third in rebounding.

-On Jan. 15, 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).

-Withers ranks sixth on the career rebounding list at Queens with 666 and is 25 rebounds away from tying for fifth place (691, Yogi Leo '93-'96). His 1,178 career points, ranks Withers 11^th all-time at Queens in scoring. He is 162 points away from tying for 10th on the scoring list (1,240 points, Adrien Pritchard '96-'99).

-With 18 points versus Catawba on Jan, 24, Mike Davis reached the 1,500-point mark for his career. He has currently scored 1,538 career points, the first 811 came in his first two collegiate seasons at Francis Marion University, with the following 727 coming since transferring to Queens prior to his junior year.

-Senior point guard Ike Agusi has scored in double figures in five of his last six games. He is averaging 17 points per game over the last three contests while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor (15-24) and 69 percent from the 3-point line (9-13)

-The Royals feature a balanced attack with four of five starters averaging double figures (Withers 14.2 PPG, Davis 12.3 PPG, Agusi 11.4 PPG, and Alexander 10.3 PPG). Queens has featured seven different leading scorers in a game this season (Withers, Davis, Alexander, Agusi, Diankulu, Shaun Willett, Josh Van Weezep).

-The Royals only loss of the season came versus the current No. 1-ranked team, Lincoln Memorial University, 73-72, on Jan. 13, 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.

-Queens currently holds second place in the SAC standings, 1.5 games back of Lincoln Memorial (21-1, 15-0 SAC), and 2.5 games ahead of Carson-Newman University in third place (19-4, 11-4 SAC).

-On Jan. 9, Queens reached No. 1 in the NABC/Division II National Rankings for the first time in program history and received 13 of a possible 16 first-place votes. Queens currently ranks No. 2 in the coaches' poll and No. 3 in the D2SIDA media poll for the second consecutive week. The Royals are also ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region behind only LMU, receiving one of six first-place votes.

-With LMU No. 1, and Queens No. 2, two teams from the same conference make up the top-2 teams in the coaches' poll for the first time since Feb. 23, 2016, when Wheeling Jesuit University and West Liberty University out of the Mountain East Conference ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively.

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

-Queens is ranked in the coaches' poll for the 41st 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 win over Anderson University on Jan. 27, Queens won its 20^th game of the season, giving the Royals a 20 win campaign for the third consecutive year, and the 14^th time in the program's 30-year history. For Bart Lundy, 2017-2018 is his seventh 20-win season as a collegiate head coach in 16 years, and his sixth in 10 years at Queens.

-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).

-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.
 
Wingate Bulldogs (12-10, 9-5 SAC)

-Wingate has won two games in a row, and four of their last five, most recently defeating Tusculum College, 81-75, on Saturday, behind 24 points from Zeriq Lolar on 6-of-12 3-point shooting, and a double-double from Marco with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior point guard Kerigan Farley added 15 points, six rebounds, and eight assists before exiting with an apparent leg injury.

-The Bulldogs currently hold fourth place in the conference standings, 2.5 games ahead of Lenoir-Rhyne University (7-8) in fifth. The top four teams in the league standings earn a home game in the first round of the conference's postseason tournament.

-Wingate is significantly better at home this season than on the road. The Bulldogs are 6-2 at Cuddy Arena, and 5-7 in true road games.

-The Bulldogs are led by Lolar who averages 15.1 points per game and is tied for seventh in the league in scoring. Haskins is second on the team averaging 13.8 points per and ranks 19^th.

-Devarious Christian leads the team in rebounding, and ranks fourth in the league, with 8.0 rebounds per game. He has secured 10 or more rebounds five times this season, and nine rebounds in each of the last two games.