HARROGATE, Tenn.- The 22^nd-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team saw its 2020-21 season come to a close this evening in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA DII Southeast Region Championship hosted by Lincoln Memorial University inside of Tex Turner Arena. The fifth-seeded Royals would fall to the fourth-seeded Lions of Emmanuel College by just two points, 80-78, on a rebound, putback scored by Emmanuel with 1.5 seconds on the clock.
 
Gavin Rains led the Royals with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor. Kenny Dye wasn't far behind him recording his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Quan McCluney added 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
 
The Royals started this evening's game with a 6-0 lead before the Lions got on the board with a pair of free-throws from Kelvin Jones at 16:36. Four straight threes followed for Emmanuel quickly giving them their first lead of the night, 14-12, at the 12-minute mark. The Lions increased the margin to as much as six before McCluney and Dye combined to score nine points to help Queens regain control of the lead with 4:08 left in the half. A free-throw from Rains gave the Royals a six-point lead, 34-28, at 1:25 and they eventually took a 34-31 lead into the locker room at the break thanks to another three-pointer from the Lions with 33 seconds on the clock.
 
The Lions quickly equalized the game at the start of the second half with yet another triple, but the Royals did not concede control as Jay'Den Turner answered with a layup to put the Royals back in front. However, the Royals were unable to create a comfortable amount of space between themselves and the Lions as back-to-back three-pointers gave Emmanuel a 42-40 lead just three minutes into the second half. From that point, the back-and-forth game saw eight ties and three lead changes up until the rebound, putback from Jones which put his team in front for good.
 
Jones finished the game with 28 points and 13 rebounds after scoring tonight's game-winner for the Lions. Tyonn Stuckey added 15 points while Brandon Simpson and Michael Wright scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Tonight marked the Royals' sixth straight NCAA DII Men's Basketball Championship appearance. Prior to last season's Championships being canceled, Queens had advanced to two straight Elite 8s. With this evening's loss, Queens completes the year with a 16-6 overall record.