CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Having less than 24 hours to prepare didn't make a difference for the No. 19/20 Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team as the Royals opened the new year with an 88-68 win over South Atlantic Conference foe Lenoir-Rhyne University on Saturday inside Curry Arena.
The Royals (3-2, 2-1 SAC) were originally scheduled to play Mars Hill University, but when the Lions pulled out on Friday afternoon, Lenoir-Rhyne (3-1, 3-1 SAC) quickly stepped in to replace them. Queens handed the Bears their first loss of the season after shooting 61.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent (8-for-16) from 3-point range in the win.
Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne traded blows early in the game with four lead changes in the course of the first 12 minutes of play. However, back-to-back free throws from redshirt-freshman
AJ McKee and a jumper from sophomore
Gavin Rains put Queens in front at the 8:24 mark and the Royals never looked back.
The lead grew to as large as 10 points, 39-29, in the first half following a 3-pointer from McKee as Queens held onto to a 41-34 advantage at intermission. McKee scored all seven of his points in the first half.
In the second half of play, the Royals opened with another Rains jumper and consecutive 3-pointers from juniors
Kelyn Pennie,
Kenny Dye and
Malcolm Stevenson to push the lead to 58-32 with 18 minutes remaining. Lenoir-Rhyne never got any closer than a 12-point deficit in the second half as Queens largest lead of 22 points, 88-66, came after a jumper from junior
Kavan Hill with 1:02 to play.
Queens' defense held the Bears in check, keeping LR's leading scorer Darius Simmons to 16 points, including just three in the second half. Senior guard Mason Hawks entered the game averaging 14.5 points per contest but scored just three points as the Bears were just 8-for-26 from deep.
The Royals were led by Stevenson who scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range, to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Rains followed with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists of his own, while Dye chipped in 13 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes of play.
Up next for Queens is a road contest with Coker University on Monday, January 4 in Hartsville, S.C. as the Royals have four games in a seven-day stretch.
