CHARLOTTE, N.C.- With just 3.1 second left Wingate took the lead for the first time of the game. Queens inbounded the ball to freshman Brandon Nichols (Fayetteville, N.C., Jack Britt), he dribbled just twice and went in for the layup. The ball fell through the hoop at the buzzer giving Queens the 89-88 win and a 1-0 record.
In the last meeting of these two non-conference opponents, December 3, 2007, Wingate's Head Coach Brian Good was coaching the Royals and Royals' head coach Wes Long was his assistant. The Bulldogs won the game by 16 points, 80-96, but that wouldn't be the case in this meeting.
The first half was grinding basketball. Queens opened the game with a seven point run and did not allow the Bulldogs to score until the 15:20 mark. A three point shot by Wingate's (1-1) Larry Staley brought the team into double digits two minutes later.
The game looked more like a track meet during much of the first stanza with Queens converting on 14 of 34 shots (41.2%) and pulling down nine offensive boards. On the other end Queens collected 22 defensive rebounds while holding Wingate to a 37.1 shooting percentage. The Bulldogs had nine offensive boards and 23 defensive.
Queens did find themselves in a little bit of foul trouble with 15 personal fouls to just 10 for Wingate. Queens held a two point advantage, 42-40, at the break.
The second half was much of the same with Queens pulling away in the first five minutes. The Royals held an eight-10 point lead for much of the second 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs were able to pull the Royals within five with five to play. Paidrick Matiuls had a put-back to bring the visitors within two, but Nichols answered with one of his own to open the lead back to four, 87-83, with: 52 left to go.
David Johnson hit his second three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to one and Jaime Vaughn's field goal off of a steal gave the Bulldogs the one point lead with only 3.1 to play.
The Royals offense was on fire in the second half shooting 61.3% to finish the night at 50.8%. From long range the Royals relied on Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) and Daniel Bailey (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ), each connecting on three attempts. As a team they were 58.3% in the second half and 44.4% overall.
Hopkins led all scorers with 22 points while Bailey had a double-double, 13 points and 12 rebounds. Nichols finished the night with 13 points and Andre Lockhart (St. James, Barbados, Coleridge and Pany)contributed 10.
Odell Turner and Vaughn led Wingate with 21 points apiece and Johnson put in 12. Eathan Kincaid had 11.
Queens hosts Lenior-Rhyne Saturday at 7:30.
