WASHINGTON, D.C. –Playing on short notice, the Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team was plagued by 21 turnovers in a 66-65 loss to NCAA Division I institution George Mason University on day one of the Paradise Jam from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
 
The Royals (0-1) were added to the four-team field on Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the start of the tournament, replacing Northeastern University who had to withdraw due to the institution postponing athletics until December.
 
Thursday's contest featured 11 total lead changes as Queens shot 43.5 percent from the field in comparison to a 46.2 percent shooting performance from George Mason (1-0). Queens held a 40-25 advantage in total rebounds, led by eight boards apiece from junior Kenny Dye and sophomore Gavin Rains.
 
Dye led the team with 18 points to go along with five steals, while freshman Justin Thomas made his collegiate debut with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor and three steals off of the bench. Junior transfer Malcolm Stevenson finished with nine points and seven rebounds in his first game as a Royal.
 
Queens opened the game on an 8-4 run over the first four minutes of play and led 12-6 following a Thomas jumper with 12:41 to play in the first half. After Mason tied the game at 14-all with just under 11 minutes to play, junior Kelyn Pennie put the Royals back in front with a jumper less than a minute later.
 
The Royals led by one, 32-31 with 46 seconds remaining in the half after a Jay'Den Turner jumper, but the Patriots Javon Greene made back-to-back free throws in the closing seconds to give his team a 33-32 lead at the half.
 
Pennie opened the second half with a jumper to put the Royals back in front before the Patriots rallied to build their biggest lead of six points, 48-42, with 13:54 to play on a Greene layup.
 
A layup from sophomore Gavin Rains sparked an 11-2 run for the Royals that ended with a layup from junior transfer Jerrel Kelly to give Queens a 53-50 edge with 8:49 left on the clock. Mason quickly tied the game at 53-all with a 3-pointer from Tyler Kolek just 10 seconds later before another 3-pointer from Xavier Johnson put Mason in front 56-53 with just under eight minutes to play.
 
Thomas went on an individual 5-0 run to give Queens a 60-56 lead with 6:02 to play as the Royals stayed in front until back-to-back free throws from Greene with 16 seconds remaining put the Patriots ahead for good. Queens had two chances to win the game late but jumpers by Dye and Rains fell short as time expired.
 
The Royals return to action tomorrow at 5 p.m. against Howard University on ESPN3.