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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 7/6 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team opens postseason play on Wednesday night at the Levine Center versus Carson-Newman University (15-13, 8-12 SAC) in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Pilot Flying J Men's Basketball Championships. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Royals earned the No. 1 seed in the eight-team tournament after winning the SAC Regular Season Championship by five games. The winner of Wednesday's matchup will meet the winner of No. 4 Tusculum University and No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday, March 9, in the conference semifinals at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

Wednesday marks the 16th meeting between Queens and Carson-Newman, with the Royals holding a 12-3 all-time edge. Queens has won each of the last nine encounters, including an 81-77 win on Jan. 12 at home, and most recently, a 102-88 road win on Feb. 23. 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. 7/6 Queens Royals (27-3, 19-1 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Last time out, Queens started slowly, but pulled away from Mars Hill University, 108-91, on Senior Day at the Levine Center. Van Turner Jr. led Queens with a career-high 28 points on nine of 13 3-point shooting. Shaun Willett recorded his 24th double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Blake Morrow scored 13 points, Lewis Diankulu added 12, Daniel Carr scored 12 with seven assists and three steals, and Jachai Taylor scored 11 points

-Saturday's win gave the Royals their 27th victory of the year, setting a new program record for regular-season wins. The win also extended the Royals' current winning streak to eight games, as Queens has won 22 of its last 23 games overall.

-On Saturday, Feb. 23, at Carson-Newman, Queens won its 17th conference game of the season, and in doing so, secured the outright SAC Regular Season Championship for the first time in program history. The championship is the second total regular-season crown claimed by the Royals in their sixth year in the League, as Queens split the title in 2016-2017 with Lincoln Memorial University. The conference championship is also the seventh overall regular-season conference crown in program history and the third-straight year in which Queens has claimed either a conference or regional title.

-For the second consecutive week, Queens was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA's official Southeast Region Rankings, released on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The NCAA Regional Rankings will determine seeding in the NCAA Tournament which begins on Mar. 16. The top team in each of the eight regions nationwide will earn the right to host their respective regional tournament. The Royals currently hold an in-region record of 25-2. The University of South Carolina Aiken is second with a record of 24-4 and Augusta University is ranked third with a 21-4 mark.

-On Tuesday, Queens improved two spots to No. 7 in the NABC / Division II Rankings and improved three spots to No. 6 in the most recent edition of the D2SIDA Media Poll. The placement in the 14th official coaches' poll of the season marks the 59th 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.

-On Feb. 27 at Wingate University, Willett passed Soce Faye (335, 1997-1998, 30 games) to take hold of the program's single-season rebounding record. Willett finished the regular season with 360 rebounds, which also stands as a South Atlantic Conference single-season record. In his two-year career, Willett has 536 rebounds, ranking him just outside the top 10 all-time in Queens history.

-With 24 double-doubles, Willett is tied for the NCAA lead (more than 1,200 institutions) in double-doubles this season. At the Division II level, Will Vorhees of Notre Dame College is second with 20 double-doubles, and in Division I, Davontae Cacok of the University of North Carolina Wilmington has 22. Kevin Dennis of Division III Morrisville State College also leads with 24.

-In Saturday's regular-season finale, Willett passed Glen Harris (586, 1998-1999, 34 games) for fourth place on the Queens single-season scoring list. Willet has scored 589 points this season and is 23 points shy of tying Spencer Ross (612, 2003-2004, 29 games) for third place.

-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.

-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 finished as the regular season as the SAC's second-leading scorer, with an average of 19.6 points per game, and the League's leading rebounder, averaging 12.0 rebounds per game. He currently ranks third nationally in rebounds per game and leads Division II in total rebounds (360).

-Carr finished 10th in the SAC in scoring (15.6 PPG), fourth in assists (4.9 APG), and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (43.1%).

-Diankulu finished as the League's fourth-leading rebounder with 7.6 boards per game and second in field goal percentage (58.6%).

-Turner ranked fourth in 3-point shooting (46.2%). His current total of 103 made 3-pointers ranks him in a tie for fifth nationally in 3-point field goals made this season.
-Morrow was the SAC's sixth-best 3-point shooter (44.2%).-

-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 355-170 (.676 win pct.) and a record at Queens of 259-83 (.757 win pct.). Lundy has led Queens to all three of its Elite Eight appearances.
 

Carson-Newman Eagles (15-13, 8-12 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-Carson-Newman earned the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament after finishing the year with an 8-12 SAC record.

-In their regular-season finale, the Eagles beat Newberry College, 89-78, to snap a three-game losing streak. Malik Abraham led with 23 points.

-Abraham has made 258 career 3-pointers and is one 3 shy of tying former teammate Charles Clark for second place in Carson-Newman history in career 3-pointers made.

-The Eagles are led by Grant Teichmann, who finished the regular season 13th in the SAC in scoring (14.6 PPG). Teichmann, who was named SAC Player of the Week on Nov. 19, also ranked eighth in the SAC in 3-point shooting (43.0%).