KANSAS CITY, MO, & WILMINGTON, DE. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team are continues to climb in each of the latest rankings released by D2SIDA Media and the NABC, checking in at No. 6 and No. 9, respectively.  The announcement from both organizations on Tuesday afternoon as we enter the final week of the regular season.  The South Atlantic Conference tournament quarterfinals will tip-off on Tuesday, March 1, but not before the Royals play their final two games of the regular season.  It starts with a road trip to Lenoir Rhyne (10-15, 9-13 SAC) tomorrow night and finishes with a battle inside Curry Arena on Saturday afternoon against Wingate (20-6, 16-6).   
 
The Royals are in the midst of their longest win streak of the season at 10 games, making it the eighth consecutive season that the program has had a win streak of eight or more games, and are on the verge of writing their names in the programs' history with one more conference win tomorrow night.  With that win, Queens would set a new program record for conference wins in a season with 20.  The Royals are a perfect 18-0 when scoring 80 or more points in a game this season, to go along with being 20-0 when leading at the half.  The latest rankings make it 110 of the last 113 weeks that the Royals have been ranked in both the D2SIDA Media Poll and the NABC Poll dating back to the 2015-16 season, making it one of the longest streaks in the nation.
 
Queens is coming off a rare eight day break after they downed Limestone last Wednesday, 73-66,  completing their season sweep of the Saints.  In the win versus Limestone, Queens opened the second half on a 20-2 run to make up for the deficit heading into the break. Jamari Smith led all scorers with 21 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. Jay'Den Turner was a bucket shy of a double-double posting eight points and 13 rebounds. Despite turning the ball over 17 times, Queens was able to limit the Saints points off turnovers to just 17.
 
Queens has been efficient distributing the ball this season as seven Royals are averaging at least 7.0 points per game.  Veteran guard Kenny Dye facilitates the offense and sits second in the conference with 5.4 assists per game. He is also the conference's best three-point shooter, cashing in 51-percent of the time from deep with 43 total made three pointers on the season, helping him tally 13.9 points per game.  Crashing the glass continues to be a priority for Bart Lundy's team as they are top 10 in the country in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by 8.0 per game, and total offensive rebounds with 358 on the season.  They are top ten with 13.77 offensive rebounds per game.  The Royals have had 40 or more rebounds in all but two games in this current ten-game win streak, and have done it 17 times this season. They have ripped down double-digit offensive rebounds in all but four games this season. Gavin Rains has been physical on the block pulling down 7.5 rebounds per contest, including a league-best 3.3 offensive boards.

The full list of the D2SIDA Media Poll can be found here and the NABC Poll can be accessed here.
 
The Royals will look to continue their impressive start tomorrow night as they welcome Tusculum (4-2 overall; 4-0 SAC) to Curry Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip off. Fans can follow the action live on the Queens Sports Network beginning at 7:30. Be sure to follow the Royals men's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.