Live Video: Queens Sports Network
Phil Constantino (pxp), Walker Mehl (analyst), Julia Allsbrook (sideline)

Live Stats: QueensAthletics.com

 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 11/12 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (6-1, 1-0 SAC) hosts Lenoir-Rhyne University (4-2, 0-1 SAC) on Saturday in a South Atlantic Conference showdown between two NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago. Opening tipoff at the Levine Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Saturday marks the 22nd all-time meeting between the two schools. The Royals lead the all-time series, 14-7, but LR won the final two of three meetings last season, including an 83-68 upset in the SAC semifinals that bounced Queens from the conference tournament.

General admission is $6 for adults, $4 for children ages 13-17, and free for seniors (60 and older) and children 12 and under. Queens students, faculty, and staff also receive free admission with the presentation of their Queens ID card.
 

Quick Facts
No. 11/12 Queens Royals (6-1, 1-0 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Queens moved to 6-1 with a 78-74 victory over Anderson University on Tuesday night at the Levine Center in its SAC Opener. Van Turner Jr. led the Royals with a season-high 20 points on six of 12 3-point shooting. Gavin Rains recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

-So far this season, Queens has collected notable wins over the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (No. 3) and Lees-McRae College (No. 7), two regionally-ranked teams. The Royals only loss came at the hands of Belmont Abbey College (86-77), a team that is currently ranked No. 5 in the region.

-On Tuesday, Nov. 26, the Royals slipped six spots to No. 12 in the NABC / Division II Rankings, however, the placement in the second official poll of the 2019-2020 season marked the 62nd consecutive week in which Queens has been featured in the national coaches' poll. The streak dates back to the first poll of the 2015-2016 season on Nov. 24, 2015.

-The Royals also fell five spots to No. 11 in the D2SIDA Media poll. Queens has cracked the top-10 nationally in both polls during each of the last five seasons.

-The two-time reigning regional champions slipped one spot to No. 2 in the Southeast Region Poll, D2SIDA announced on Monday, Nov. 25. The Royals earned 50 points, placing just behind conference rival Lincoln Memorial University (5-1) who received all six first-place votes and earned 60 points. The Royals were ranked No. 1 in the region in the preseason.

-The Royals have won 16-straight road games and currently hold the longest active road winning streak in all levels of NCAA basketball. Queens last lost a road game on Feb. 24, 2018, at then No. 1-Lincoln Memorial, 80-65. Queens finished last season 12-0 in road games and has opened 2019-2020 with a 2-0 road record. Reigning Division II National Champion Northwest Missouri State University holds the second-longest road winning streak with 15 consecutive road wins.

-Daniel Carr was named South Atlantic Conference AstroTurf Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his week-one performance. In two wins over Young Harris College and Emmanuel College, Carr averaged 24 points, four assists, two steals, and two rebounds while shooting 70.6 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from the 3-point line. The weekly honor was Carr's second career Player of the Week nod.

-Queens, the reigning South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Champion, was picked atop the SAC's Preseason Poll, as voted on by the League's coaches. The Royals received eight of 12 first-place votes and 117 points to edge Lincoln Memorial, who was picked second, and Catawba College, who was picked third.

-Two Royals received preseason all-conference honors in advance of the 2019-2020 season. Senior guard Daniel Carr, who was named a first-team all-conference selection last year, was named to the League's first team, and redshirt-senior guard Van Turner Jr., who earned an honorable mention all-conference nod last year, was named a preseason second-team all-conference selection.

-Carr was named a Preseason Honorable Mention All-American by Street & Smith's Basketball Magazine. Last season, Carr was named a second-team all-region selection by two outlets (NABC & D2CCA) and to the Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List.

-Over the previous three seasons, the Royals have won 93 games, the fourth most of any program at all NCAA levels during that span (Gonzaga 103, Northwest Missouri State 100, Villanova 94).

-The Royals have won 30 games or more in each of the last three seasons and are one of just two programs in all levels of NCAA basketball who have accomplished the feat (Gonzaga).
 

Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (4-2, 0-1 SAC)
 
-Lenoir-Rhyne has opened the season 4-2, but enters the weekend off of a loss to Tusculum University in its SAC opener, 70-58, on Tuesday.

-LR is led by RJ Gunn, the team's leading scorer (22.7 PPG) and rebounder (6.2 RPG), who scored 22 in Tuesday's loss. Two games ago versus Clayton State University, Gunn scored a career-high 36 points.

 -The Bears were picked in a tie for sixth place in the SAC Preseason Poll after finishing last season 21-11 (12-8 SAC). In 2018-2019, LR earned an at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the Southeast Region before losing in the first round to the University of South Carolina-Aiken, 84-71.The Bears graduated four starters off of last season's tournament team.

-Lenoir-Rhyne is currently ranked ninth in the latest edition of the D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll.

-Head Coach Everick Sullivan is in his fourth year at Lenoir-Rhyne. A former standout player at the University of Louisville, Sullivan holds an overall record of 46-46 (.500 win pct.).