CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Visibly distraught, Daniel Carr sat at the dais and fielded questions from the media after a loss. It was just the 20^th out of 137 games in his four-year collegiate career.

"I think we can let it hurt for today and then tomorrow just turn the page and know that we have more basketball ahead," he said.

The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team just suffered a crushing defeat, falling to arch-rival and second-ranked Lincoln Memorial University, 75-68, in the South Atlantic Conference Championship Game. The Royals squandered an 11-point first-half lead and were just the third team all season to lead the Railsplitters at halftime. Queens came closer than anyone to snapping the nation's longest-active winning streak.

Once again, Carr filled all columns of the box score. He scored 15 points, with five rebounds, three assists and two steals in the title game, capping a three-game stretch in which he averaged 23.3 points to earn All-Tournament honors. However, an untimely and uncharacteristic blemish, just his fifth turnover in 117 tournament minutes played, may have sealed the afternoon's outcome.

"I'll take some of the blame for that being a leader. I had a turnover at the very end that led to an and-one layup. … I'll take some of that, but I promise you that our guys will come back with more fight."

With 1:36 to play, riding the momentum of five straight points and trailing by just one, 66-65, Carr and fellow senior, Van Turner Jr., miscommunicated and failed to connect a pass in transition. Lincoln Memorial's Cameron Henry turned the fastbreak steal into a three-point play, zapping the energy from the Royals and bolstering the Railsplitters' late lead.

"We'll regroup and we'll head to the NCAA Tournament and we'll represent ourselves well," said head coach Bart Lundy sitting beside his senior captain.

Carr and the Royals had become accustom to postseason success. Queens reached the NCAA Tournament all four years of his career, reaching the Sweet 16 his freshman season, the national semifinals his sophomore season, and the Elite Eight his junior season. Each of the last two years, Queens lifted the Southeast Regional Championship trophy after falling short a week earlier in the SAC Tournament. The most recent regional title came behind a career-high 33-point performance from Carr in a semifinal rivalry win over Catawba College.

But for the winningest player in Queens Basketball history, the chance to atone for a rare miscue never materialized. Days after the Royals earned the Southeast's No. 2 seed, Carr's final "Big Dance" was canceled.

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In his hometown of North Augusta, South Carolina, Carr's athletic success began at a young age. By eighth grade, he was a starter for Midland Valley High School's varsity basketball team. By the time of his high school graduation, Carr was a multi-sport star.

On the court, Carr was a four-time Region Player of the Year, three-time Area Player of the Year and four-time all-state selection. In 2015, his junior season, Carr led Midland Valley to a state championship.

On the football field he was a four-year varsity starter at quarterback, again earning Area Player of the Year recognition three times and four-times earning an all-state nod. In both his junior and senior seasons, Carr rushed and passed for more than 1,000 yards each. At just six-feet tall, Carr went unrecognized by major college basketball, but highly regarded by major college football.

"I have a whole drawer and shoebox of the letters from all the schools," Carr said of the recruiting process.

Schools as large and successful as Clemson expressed interest.

Carr made official visits to Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Furman and Newberry, three of which are Division I schools. All four offered him a football scholarship.

A chance to play Power 5 college football in the Atlantic Coast Conference was tempting, and as Carr admitted he was "pretty close" to taking a football offer. But one common theme steered him away from accepting, injuries. Throughout his high school career, all of Carr's injuries came from football.

"I had separated both shoulders, a couple nagging ankle injuries, and during my senior year I pulled my hamstring really bad in a playoff game," he said, "I played through a lot of injuries."

It came while watching practice on his visit to Georgia Tech, that Carr experienced a defining realization.

"Thinking about how I felt Saturday after football games in high school and thinking about doing that every Saturday with people that are two times my size and run just as fast," is how Carr made his decision.

Unexpected by many, Carr chose basketball. Then, another surprise, he chose Queens over two other prominent local DII programs, the University of South Carolina-Aiken where his brother Marquett played and Augusta University, both of which are located just miles from where Carr grew up.

"They were both too close to home," Carr said of USC-Aiken and Augusta. "I felt more of a family bond at Queens when I took my visit."

Once on campus in Charlotte, Carr had an immediate impact.

"We like multi-sport athletes, especially ones that play football because of their toughness," Lundy said. "Once he stopped playing football and it became basketball full-time, we could see his trajectory really taking off."

Carr's first collegiate appearance came in an exhibition game versus Division I powerhouse, Virginia Commonwealth University. The 18-year-old freshman was thrust into action in front of more than 7,600 screaming VCU fans in a packed-out Siegel Center, widely regarded as one of the most intimidating atmospheres in all of college basketball.

"We used to sell out a lot of games in high school, but a crowd, that big? That was next-level. That was like something you see on TV. That was a bit different," he said.

Carr remained unphased. In 14 minutes, he scored 11 points on five of seven shooting with two rebounds. His two key steals of VCU's all-conference senior guard, JeQuan Lewis, aided the Royals' game-defining second-half run. Queens sprung the upset, 75-73, jumpstarting the best start to a season in program history and launching the career of a legend.

"It was like a display of what I could do," Carr said. "Like a coming out party. The impact I had on that game, for me, it was a message. Y'all are gonna see me for a long time and I know I can be a big part of the Queens basketball program."

As a freshman reserve point guard in 2016-2017, Carr earned SAC All-Freshman honors helping the Royals to a then-record setting season. The Royals turned a 16-0 start into a 30-4 overall mark with SAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships and a trip to the Sweet 16.

"My freshman year here, one game I might play 20 minutes, one game I might play four," Carr said. "Just always being a good teammate, waiting for my turn."

As a sophomore, Carr upped his scoring average as the Royals compiled the best season in program history. Queens went 32-4, reached the No. 1 national ranking, and claimed the Southeast Region Championship in a road upset of top-ranked Lincoln Memorial. The season ended in double overtime in the national semifinals, a trip that tied for the deepest postseason run in the history of the program.

Carr earned a starting job for his junior season and his performance exploded. Over the span of his final two years, Carr was twice named a first-team all-conference selection, twice named an all-region selection by both the coaches and the media, and twice named to the Bevo Francis Award's Top 100 Watch List, among other accolades.

"He has consistently worked in the offseason and the summers," said Lundy. "He's always the hardest worker in practice."

By the time his career ended, Carr scored 1,512 points to rank fifth on the program's all-time scoring list. In his final campaign he surpassed Queens Hall of Famers Yogi Leo and Chuck Wittman, among others, and the only NBA player in program history, former teammate Todd Withers.

Carr also finished top 10 in several other statistical categories including field goals made (5^th, 514), 3-point field goals made (9^th, 153), and assists (2^nd, 446).

"He has had great growth over his four years," said Lundy. "To me, he is the epitome of what a great four-year student-athlete looks like."

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On Thursday, Mar. 12, hours before boarding the bus to Tennessee, the NCAA announced the cancellation of all remaining winter and spring championship events due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the season and Carr's career.

"I hated how the season ended," he said. "I feel like it was taken from us. I would've been okay to walk off the court knowing I gave it my all win or lose, but I didn't, cause it was taken."

In four seasons, Carr and the 2020 senior class posted an overall record of 117-20, the best four-year winning percentage in program history (.854 win pct.). Carr, who made the most career appearances among his classmates only missing two games his senior year due to a mild leg injury, increased his production each season. He completed his senior year with team-best averages of 17.3 points and 1.5 steals per game.

"He is a cornerstone, a pillar of our culture" Lundy said. "When he got here, he really lit a fire under himself and he graduated in three years. … Danny has always led by example"

Prior to the loss to Lincoln Memorial, Queens had won 10 consecutive games. Onlookers opined that the Royals were playing their "best basketball of the season" and Coach Lundy acknowledged his team would be a "tough out" in the NCAAs.

Queens was scheduled to play Conference Carolinas Champion and seventh-seeded Southern Wesleyan University in the first round. If seeding held, the Royals would have likely met LMU again in the Southeast Regional Championship Game.

The abrupt ending left those involved with the Queens program, including Carr, wondering: 'What could have been? Might the Royals have replicated the stunning result of two years ago? Might the Royals make another deep run to the Elite Eight? Might Queens be peaking just in time for a run at a National Championship led by its most accomplished class and player?'

"Especially knowing we could've played LMU again, we had that feeling like we knew we could beat them if we played them a fourth time," Carr said.

The result will never be known.