OPENING TIP
Score: Appalachian State 93 | Queens 81
Records: Appalachian State (8-2) | Queens (6-6)
Location: Curry Arena (Charlotte, N.C.)
 
The Short Story: The Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team dropped a Wednesday night showdown against Appalachian State 93-81 despite a career-high 25 points from Deyton Albury.

BY THE NUMBERS
-Junior Deyton Albury reached 20+ points for the fourth game this season with a career-high 25 points. The Nassau, Bahamas native connected on a career-best 10-of-15 shots while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists.
-Veteran AJ McKee reached double figures for the 12^th straight game this season with 19 points. McKee added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
-Senior forward BJ McLaurin turned in his seventh double-figure performance, including his third straight with 18 points. The Fayetteville native matched his career-high connecting on 4-of-8 shots from behind the arc.
-Bryce Cash and Chris Ashby earned their 12^th starts and combined for 12 points 50 percent shooting from the field.
-Queens shot 51 percent from the field, including a 42 percent mark from behind the arc while the Mountaineers buried 56 percent of their attempts.
-Appalachian State won the battle on the glass outrebounding the Royals 31-23. The visitors also added five blocks on the night. 

NOTABLE MOMENTS
-The visiting Mountaineers jumped out to a quick 12-2 run forcing a Royals timeout. The Mountaineers would remain hot out of the timeout before Queens answered with a 10-0 run of their own closing the deficit back to 23-20.
-App State would respond with a 15-2 growing their lead back to 13 with 2:56 remaining in the first half.
-Leading 51-45 with 17:01 remaining in the second half, the visitors mounted a 16-5 surge claiming their largest lead of the night at 17.
-With 5:40 remaining in the game, Queens closed the deficit back to seven with a 10-6 spark which was capped off by a Deyton Albury fast-break layup.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
-The last time the Royals shot over 50 percent from the field and lost was March 15, 2022, in the NCAA Division 2 Southeast Regional Finals.
-The loss snapped a five-game home winning streak for the Royals as they also fell to 9-1 in home non-conference Division 1 games.
-Queens connected on 11 three-pointers marking the sixth time this season that the Royals have converted on 10+ attempts from behind the arc. Queens is averaging 12.3 made three-pointers in the last six games.
-The in-state battle saw 1,534 fans in attendance which was the largest of the season inside Curry Arena.

NEXT UP
Queens will return to action next Tuesday, December 19^th when they travel to Mercer University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN Plus. Fans can purchase their tickets in advance by visiting the Mercer Athletics website.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Queens Men's Basketball on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for news and updates throughout the season. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media to stay up to date on all the Royals sports in action.