Live Audio: Queens Sports Network
Phil Constantino (pxp)

Live Video: SACLive

Live Stats: TheSAC.com
 

GREENVILLE, S.C. – On Saturday night, the No. 23/T-25 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (23-6, 17-5 SAC) meets Catawba College (20-9, 14-8 SAC) in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Championship. Opening tipoff from Timmons Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The Royals earned the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament after finishing in sole possession of second place in the conference standings. Queens beat seventh-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University, 106-96, on Wednesday night to earn its sixth consecutive trip to the SAC semifinals. Catawba earned the No. 3 seed after a third-place finish, three games back of Queens. The Indians topped sixth-seeded Newberry College, 89-87, in Wednesday's quarterfinals. The winner of Saturday's semifinal game will advance to Sunday's Championship Game versus the winner of the semifinal matchup between top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University and fourth-seeded Tusculum University.

Queens swept the season series from Catawba, winning the first matchup, 90-80, on Jan. 15 at Levine and the second matchup, 94-84, on Feb. 19 on the road. Saturday's meeting will be the 22nd all-time between the two programs, with the Royals holding a 17-4 all-time edge. Queens has won each of the last 16 meetings with Catawba, last losing back on Nov. 22, 2011, when the Indians topped the Royals, 80-77.
 
Quick Facts
No. 23/T-25 Queens Royals (23-6, 17-5 SAC)
(Game Notes)

-A win on Saturday, Feb. 22, versus Carson-Newman University gave the Royals their 20th win of the season. Queens has won 20 games or more 14 times in program history, including each of the last five seasons. This season is also the ninth 20-win season in Bart Lundy's 18 years as a collegiate head coach.

-With two more wins, the Royals will clinch a 25-win season for the fifth consecutive year and the ninth time in program history. Seven of the program's previous eight 25-win campaigns have been led by Coach Lundy.

-After beating Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday night, Queens has won a season-best nine consecutive games. With one more win, the Royals will clinch a winning streak of at least 10 games for the fifth consecutive season. In 2015-2016, Queens started the season 12-0, a then-program record for best start to a season and longest winning streak. The Royals then eclipsed both records the following two seasons, opening 16-0 in both the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 campaigns. Last season, after starting 5-2, Queens rattled off 14 consecutive wins before losing another game.

-In the third and final official NCAA rankings of the season, released by the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee on Wednesday, Mar. 4, Queens held at No. 3 in the Southeast Region. The two-time reigning regional champions remain slotted behind only conference rival Lincoln Memorial and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

-The Royals have reached the NCAA Tournament each of the last four seasons and 12 times in program history. The region's top-eight teams (three automatic qualifiers and five at-large selections) will qualify for the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is revealed on Sunday, Mar. 8, at 10:30 p.m. ET.

-On Tuesday, Feb. 25, Queens returned to the national rankings after a brief hiatus. The Royals are currently ranked No. 23 nationally in the D2SIDA Media Poll and tied for 25th in the NABC Coaches' Poll. Previously, the Royals spent more than four full seasons ranked in both major national polls, which included a streak of 65 consecutive weeks in the national coaches' poll. The streak, which began on Nov. 24, 2015, the first poll of the 2015-2016 season, lasted 1,498 days (4 years, 1 month and 7 days), before Queens dropped out of the poll earlier this season, on Dec. 31, 2019.

-With a 28-point performance on Wednesday versus Lenoir-Rhyne, Daniel Carr moved into fifth-place all-time on the Queens career scoring list, passing former All-American and Queens Hall of Famer Chuck Wittman, who scored 1,462 points in 113 games from 1993-1997. Currently, Carr has scored 1,470 career points (133 games) and is 132 points shy of tying Chris Benson for fourth place (1,602 points).

-Four members of the Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team received all-conference accolades, the South Atlantic Conference announced on Thursday. Carr was named a first-team all-conference selection for the second time in his career. Jamari Smith and Van Turner Jr. were named honorable mention all-conference selections, and Gavin Rains was named to the All-Freshman Team.

-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).
 

Catawba Indians (20-9, 14-8 SAC)

-Last year, after top-seeded Queens lost in the semifinal round to Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba beat LR, 71-67, to claim its first SAC Tournament title since 2009 and its eighth all-time, a SAC record.

-The Indians are currently ranked No. 5 in the official Southeast Region Rankings. Catawba is seeking its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Indians lost to the Royals in the second round of last year's national tournament, 96-93, and finished the year with a 25-8 overall record.

-Catawba is led by Marcell Hasket, who averages a team-high 18.5 points per game (No. 7 SAC). Haskett, who scored a career-high 38 points in the quarterfinal win over Newberry, earned honorable mention all-conference recognition on Thursday.

-Devin Cooper, a first-team all-conference selection, follows with 18.1 points per game (No. 9 SAC).

-Head Coach Rob Perron is in his sixth season at Catawba and his ninth overall. Formerly the head coach at his alma mater St. Andrew's University ('02-'05), Perron holds an overall coaching record of 127-135 (.485 win pct.).