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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The seventh-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (31-3, 18-2 SAC) will face No. 21 California Baptist University (28-5, 17-3 Pac West) on Tuesday night in the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships. Opening tipoff from Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.

Queens is making its third all-time appearance in the Elite Eight, and its first since 2003, after winning the Southeast Regional Championship with a 69-57 win over top-ranked and top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University on March 13. The triumph gave the Royals 31 wins on the season, setting a new program record and breaking the previous mark of 30 wins set by last year's team. Upon reseeding for the Elite Eight, Queens was named the No. 2-seed, slotted only behind Ferris State University.

California Baptist was named the seventh-seed after upending top-seeded and No. 3-ranked Western Oregon University, 80-76, on March 12. CBU is making its first Elite Eight appearance in program history, having made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five years.

Tuesday night marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs. None of the eight teams in the field have ever won a national championship, and none of the eight teams return from last year's Elite Eight.

The winner will advance to the national semifinals on Thursday and will face the winner of Tuesday's last quarterfinal between third-seeded Northern State University and sixth-seeded East Stroudsburg University.

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

No. 7/5 Queens Royals (31-3, 18-2 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-In the Sweet 16 win over Lincoln Memorial, Ike Agusi led four Royals in double figures with 16 points, as Jalin Alexander scored 13, Lewis Diankulu scored 12, and Mike Davis totaled 10 points. With an average of 13.7 points per across three games, Alexander was named the Southeast Regional Most Outstanding Player, while Todd Withers, who averaged 12 points and 7.3 rebounds in that stretch, was also named to the Regional's All-Tournament team.

-On Monday, Withers was named an All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), becoming the first Royal to garner All-American accolades since 2004. This season Withers has previously been named to the Southeast Region All-District First Team by the NABC, a Second-Team All-Southeast Region selection by the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA), and a First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference selection. He was also named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List and the conference's all-tournament team.

-In total, four Royals received individual postseason accolades, as Agusi and Mike Davis were named to the SAC's second team, and Jalin Alexander received honorable-mention recognition. Shaun Willett was later named to the conference's all-tournament team alongside Withers.

-Queens has won 25 straight non-conference games including the postseason, most recently defeating Lees-McRae College, 90-69, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 10. Queens has completed its non-conference regular-season schedule unbeaten for three straight years. The Royals last non-conference loss came versus Livingstone, 73-71, on Dec. 3, 2014.

-Queens features one of the most efficient offenses in the country, with a shooting percentage of 40.6 percent, which is ranked No. 12 nationally and No. 3 in the SAC, and an average of 16.9 assists per game which is the 22nd-best mark in the nation, and the second-best in the league. The Royals score 83.2 points per game on average which is ranked No. 39 in the country and No. 4 in the conference.

-The Royals are ranked No. 2 in the SAC, and No. 34 in Division II, in scoring defense, allowing 68.6 points per game. Queens has held 29 of its 34 opponents under their season scoring average.

-Queens has held its opponent to 70 points or less 19 times in 34 games, and 60 points or less seven times. Only four opponents all season have scored more than 80 points in a game against Queens (Carson-Newman, Catawba, Newberry, Lincoln Memorial).

-The Royals are holding opponents to 40.8-percent shooting (No. 18 NCAA, No. 2 SAC), and are out-rebounding opponents by 7.3 rebounds per game (No. 16 NCAA, No. 2 SAC).

-Queens is led by Withers who is averaging a team-high 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. Withers is 19^th in the SAC in scoring, third in rebounding, and third in blocked shots.

-Withers has currently recorded 752 career rebounds and ranks fourth all-time at Queens. He is nine rebounds away from tying for third all-time (Carlos Andrade, 761, 1999-2003). Withers' 272 rebounds this year give him the third most in a single season at Queens. He is two boards away from tying for the second most (274, Yogi Leo, 1995-1996).

-With 1,329 points, Withers currently ranks ninth on the career scoring list at Queens, and is 16 points away from tying for eighth (1,345, Yogi Leo, 1993-1996).

-Davis is seven points away from reaching 1,700 for his career, having compiled 1,693 career points. The senior scored 811 of his points in his first two collegiate seasons at Francis Marion University, and the following 882 since transferring to Queens prior to his junior year.

-As one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country, Queens features two of the league's top six in shooting percentage. Lewis Diankulu ranks fourth at 67-percent shooting, and Shaun Willett ranks sixth at 62.5 percent.

-The Royals feature a balanced attack with four of five starters averaging double figures (Withers 13.6 PPG, Davis 12.5 PPG, Agusi 11.4 PPG, and Alexander 11.4 PPG). Queens has featured seven different leading scorers in a game this season (Withers, Davis, Alexander, Diankulu, Agusi, Willett, Josh Van Weezep).

-Despite falling short of the SAC regular-season championship in the final game, the 2017-2018 team posted the best regular-season record in program history going 26-2 (.928 win pct.). The previous best mark was set by the 2002-2003 team that finished with a 29-4 overall record, and a 24-2 record in the regular season (.923 win pct.).

-Queens earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Southeast Region. The appearance marked the third straight trip to the NCAAs for the program, and the 11^th total in 30 years.

-The Royals only three losses this season came versus the current No. 1-ranked team, Lincoln Memorial. In the first meeting on Jan. 13, then-No. 1 Queens fell 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.

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

-With a No. 7 ranking in the final poll of the season, Queens was ranked in the coaches' poll for the 45th 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 last three seasons and was ranked top-5 nationally for 14 of the 15 weeks this season.

-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).

No. 21/19 California Baptist Lancers (28-5, 17-3 Pac West)
(Game Notes)

-California Baptist is competing at the Division II level for the final time this season. The Lancers will transition to Division I as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) starting next year.

-CBU has won 14 of its last 15 games with its only loss coming in the second round of its conference tournament, 66-64, at the hands of Dixie State University.

-The Lancers finished in second place in the regular season standings of the Pacific West Conference, one game back of Dixie State (18-2).

-CBU is led by Kalidou Diouf, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional while averaging 18.7 points per in the three contests. Diouf on the season is averaging 18.1 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game which is ranked third in the Pac West in both categories. He was named a first-team all-region selection by the D2CCCA for the second season in a row, and an all-district selection by the NABC. Diouf was also named to the Bevo Francis Award Top-25 Watch List.

-This season Diouf has recorded 10 double-doubles and scored in double figures 30 times. He is ranked 10^th nationally in field goal percentage, shooting at a 62.5-percent clip. Earlier in the year, Diouf became the ninth player in CBU history to score 1,000 points and record 500 rebounds.

-The Lancers are ranked 22nd in the country in scoring defense, allowing 67.7 points per game. They are also seventh in the country in rebounding margin ( 9.2).