CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jamari Smith and Jachai Taylor led the Royals with career highs, and the No. 7/8 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (3-0) fought off two potential game-tying 3-point attempts as time expired, to defeat Lees-McRae College (2-1), 96-93, on Saturday evening at the Levine Center. Smith totaled 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists on eight of 10 shooting, while Taylor scored 20 points on eight of 11 from the floor.

Queens took a 15-point lead, its largest of the game, 53-38, with 1:15 to play in the first half when Taylor dropped in a jumper in the paint. But after a layup from Sidney Dollar and a pair of made free throws from Quay Kimble, Lees-McRae cut the lead to 11, 53-42, at halftime. Kimble finished the game with 23 points.

In the second, the Bobcats opened with a 9-3 scoring run, capped by a Jerick Haynes steal and fast-break lay-in that cut the Royals lead to 56-51 with 17:56 remaining. After Queens extended the lead to double figures again, Lees-McRae trimmed the deficit to one, 82-81, on a Kamil Williams three-point play with 4:13 to play. Williams led all scorers with 25 points.

In the final minute, after Daniel Carr hit one of two free throws to extend the Royals' lead to 94-90, Williams banked in a contested 3-pointer from the right wing, pulling the Bobcats within one, 94-91, with 15 seconds to go. Kenny Dye was fouled moments later, and after making two free throws, Jerick Haynes missed two 3-point attempts from the right corner that would have tied the game as time ran out.

Despite the scored tightening late, the Royals only trailed for 35 seconds when Lees-McRae led 3-2 in the game's second minute.

Carr added 14 points, Jermaine Patterson scored 13 and Dye scored nine, as Queens shot 48.4 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from the 3-point line and 78.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Lees-McRae shot 50 percent from the floor, 32.1 percent from 3-point range, and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Queens returns to action on Sunday afternoon versus the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (4-0). Opening tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Live play-by-play coverage will be available on the Queens Sports Network.