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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 10/9 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (24-3, 16-1 SAC) travels to Carson-Newman University (13-12, 6-11 SAC) on Saturday afternoon seeking to clinch the program's first outright South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship. Queens will claim the title with a win or a loss by Lincoln Memorial University (13-4). Opening tipoff from Holt Fieldhouse in Jefferson City, Tennessee, is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Queens and Carson-Newman will meet for the 15th time, with the Royals holding an 11-3 all-time edge, and having won each of the last eight meetings. CN's last win over Queens came on Feb. 23, 2015, when the Royals fell, 87-62, at the Levine Center in the final meeting of the 2014-2015 season.
 
 
Quick Facts
No. 10/9 Queens Royals (24-3, 16-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Last time out, Shaun Willett's putback layup with 18 seconds left put the Royals ahead for good as Queens edged Catawba College, 91-87, on Wednesday night at the Levine Center. Willett led Queens with 22 points and nine rebounds, as the win clinched at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference regular-season title for the second time in the last three years.

-With 22 double-doubles, Willett leads the NCAA (more than 1,200 institutions) in double-doubles this season. At the Division II level, Will Vorhees of Notre Dame College is second with 17 double-doubles. In Division I, Davontae Cacok of the University of North Carolina Wilmington has 20, and in Division III, Kevin Dennis of Morrisville State College has 21.

-With 325 rebounds in the season's first 27 games, Willett has already recorded the second-most rebounds in a single season in program history. He is 10 rebounds shy of tying Soce Faye who holds the single-season rebounding record with 335 (1997-98, 30 games). In his two years in Charlotte, Willett has totaled 501 rebounds.

-Through 27 games, Willett has scored 532 total points and is on the verge of cracking the top 10 of the program's single-season scoring bests. Willett is 18 points away from tying Soce Faye who ranks 10th with 550 points during the 1997-1998 season (30 games).

-On Feb. 15, Willett was named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, Small College Basketball announced. The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest season across NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA Divisions I and II, USCAA Divisions I and II and NCCAA Divisions I and II. The watch list, which began with 100 players on Jan. 15 and also featured Daniel Carr, will be trimmed down to 25 players on March 15. Finalists will be announced on April 6 and the award winner will be announced on April 8.

-On Tuesday, Queens held at No. 10 in the NABC / Division II Rankings and improved one spot to No. 9 in the most recent edition of the D2SIDA Media Poll. The placement in the 12th official coaches' poll of the season marks the 57th consecutive week in which Queens has been featured in the poll dating back to Nov. 24, 2015, the first poll of the 2015-2016 season. The Royals have cracked the top-10 nationally in both polls during each of the last four seasons.

-A road victory on Feb. 6 at Coker College improved the Royals' road record to 10-0 and extended their road winning streak to 11 games dating back to last season. The current road winning streak is second to Northwest Missouri State University for the longest such active streak in Division II and includes three wins over ranked teams. This season Queens has posted road wins over No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne University, 76-69, on Nov. 28, and No. 24 Catawba, 87-86, on Jan. 16.

-With a win on Saturday, Feb. 2, at Lincoln Memorial, Queens won for the 20th time this season, notching a 20-win campaign for the 15th time in the program's 30-year history and the fourth year in a row. This season is Bart Lundy's eighth 20-win season as a head coach and his seventh in 11 years at Queens.

-With one more victory, the Royals will record their 25th win, marking the fourth-straight season in which Queens has won at least 25 games and the eighth time in the program's history. This season will be Lundy's seventh 25-win season as a head coach, all of which have come in his 11 years at Queens.

-Willett was named AstroTurf SAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for games played Feb. 4-10 after averaging 21.5 points and 14 rebounds on 51.4-percent shooting in two winning efforts. The award was Willett's third Player of the Week honor this season and the fifth time this year that a Queens player claimed the award.

-Willett currently leads SAC in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game. He also leads the League in rebounding, and ranks third nationally, with 12.0 rebounds per game.

-Carr is seventh in the SAC in scoring (16.4 PPG), fifth in assists (4.4 APG), and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (43.7%).

-Lewis Diankulu is the League's fifth-leading rebounder with 7.7 boards per game and ranks fourth in field goal percentage (57.8%).

-Van Turner Jr. is fourth in 3-point shooting (45.7%) and his 86 made 3-pointers ranks him 11th nationally in 3-point field goals made this season.

-As a team, Queens is shooting 50.8 percent (No. 12 NCAA, No. 1 SAC) and 41.0 percent from three (No. 9 NCAA, No. 1 SAC).

-Head Coach Bart Lundy is in his sixth season since returning to Queens and his 11^th overall at the helm in Charlotte. In 17 years as a head coach in Division I and II, Lundy has posted an overall record of 352-170 (.675 win pct.) and a record at Queens of 256-83 (.755 win pct.). Lundy has led Queens to all three of its Elite Eight appearances.
 

Carson-Newman Eagles (13-12, 6-11 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Carson-Newman enters Saturday in eighth place in the conference standings, two games back of Anderson University in seventh (8-9) and two games ahead of Newberry College in ninth (4-13). The top eight teams in the League standings at the end of the season will qualify for the postseason tournament.

-CN has lost back-to-back games, most recently falling to Tusculum University on Saturday at home, 79-65.

-The Eagles are led by Grant Teichmann who ranks 12th in the SAC in scoring (14.8 PPG). Teichmann, who was named SAC Player of the Week on Nov. 19, also ranks fifth in the SAC in 3-point shooting (44.9 %).