CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Queens men’s basketball squared off with the Conference Carolinas top-seeded Mount Olive Trojans Wednesday night in the last regular season home game for the Royals. The Trojans (22-5/19-1 CC) proved to be too much for the Royals (12-14/9-10 CC) defeating them 90-68.
The Royals jumped out of the gate early, taking the lead in the first few minutes, but after an 11-11 tie Mount Olive gained the upper hand and held on for the remaining 32:37.
Cold shooting from the floor contributed to the Royals falling behind in the first half. Queens was just 9-29 (31%), but from the free throw line they shot a perfect 4-4 in the opening stanza. For the game the Royals missed just one free throw, hitting 17-18 for 94.4%. From the floor Queens finished shooting 37.1%, 23-62.
The Royals defense held the conference’s top scorer Kendrick Easley to 19 points and just four in the first half. Prior to the contest Easley was averaging 24ppg. Mount Olive’s Craig Hayes led all scorers with a 20 point effort.
Queens senior
Andre Lockhart (St. James, Barbados, Coleridge and Pany) led the Royals with 18 points in the loss. Fellow senior
Devon Seaford (Charlotte, N.C., Hope Christian Academy) chipped in 15 points.
The Royals have one last regular season game before starting the conference tournament next week. On Saturday Queens travels to Erskine for a 4pm tip.