HICKORY, N.C. – A three-game road trip came to a close on Monday afternoon for the No. 12/15 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team as the Royal suffered a 71-66 loss at the hands of Lenoir-Rhyne University inside Shuford Gymnasium. The loss ends a six-game winning streak for the Royals who had not lost a game since the new year began.
Queens (8-3, 6-2 SAC) shot just 35.7 percent from the floor, including 5-for-22 (22.7%) from deep in the loss, but did hold a 49-34 advantage in total rebounds. The Bears (5-2, 5-2 SAC) made 11 3-pointers, including seven in the second half and made 14-of-18 free throws in the contest.
The Royals opened the game with five unanswered points and led 9-3 following back-to-back baskets from junior
Jerrel Kelly. The Bears kept the game close and took their first lead of the contest, 12-11, on a 3-pointer from sophomore Cooper Fowler with 9:40 left on the clock.
Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne traded baskets on the next three possessions before sophomore
Gavin Rains scored five straight points to put his team in front 18-15. Lenoir-Rhyne quickly evened the score at 18-all with a 3-pointer, but Queens ended the half on a 7-4 run to carry a 25-22 lead into intermission.
The lead grew to seven, 30-23, for the Royals after junior
Kelyn Pennie drained a 3-pointer two minutes into the start of the second half, but a Mason Hawks 3-pointer evened the score at 31-all just one minute later. An 18-6 run over the course of 5:17 gave Queens its largest lead of 12 points, 49-37 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
Queens continued to lead for much of the second half of action until Lenoir-Rhyne's Davion Bradford made a contested layup with 5:34 left to tie the game before senior Darius Simmons gave the Bears a lead, 56-55, by hitting one-of-two free throws. Simmons made 5-of-6 free throw attempts in final five minutes of play to help LR pull away for the victory.
Redshirt-sophomore
Jamari Smith registered a game-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds for Queens, while Rains had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior
Quan McCluney chipped in nine points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes off of the bench.
The Royals return home on Wednesday, January 20 to host Tusculum University. Tip-off from Curry Arena is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the Queens Sports Network.
