Daniel Bailey (Irmo, S.C., Hammond ) hit a pair of clutch free-throws with one second remaining in overtime to lead the Queens University of Charlotte men’s basketball team past Belmont Abbey, 99-97 Saturday night at the Grady Cole Center.
The win puts the Royals (7-7, 10-11) and Crusaders (7-7, 11-9) in a tie for sixth in the Conference Carolinas standings.
Bailey led all scorers with 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including nine-of-11 from the line in over 42 minutes of action.
Antonio Stabler (Garner, N.C., Wakefield) led the Royals with seven rebounds while chipping in 11 points.
Harvin Council and Richard Harvin led the way for the Crusaders with 23 points, nine rebounds and 22 points, eight rebounds respectively.
Belmont Abbey used their size early in the game to build a 2-9 lead. Queens’ head coach Wes Long quickly adjusted, inserting sophomore
David Cheek (Graham, N.C., Graham) for some added strength.
The Royals answered immediately, going on a 14-2 run headlined by a deep two from
Sean Eads (Greenville, S.C., Eastside).
Up by two points at the six-minute mark, Eads lifted the Royals with back-to-back three pointers. Junior guard
Reggie Hopkins (Gastonia, N.C., Ashbrook) added two more to put the Royals up 43-29 with their largest lead of 14.
The Crusaders fought back in the final 2:23, ending the half with a 9-2 run.
In the second half, Queens expanded their lead to nine on a Hopkins basket at 18:17.
The Crusaders would answer and go on a 13-2 run to take the lead. Coucil’s putback with 4:35 remaining would put the Crusaders up by eight points.
Queens rallied to tie the game at 90 with 1:25 remaining on a pair of Hopkins free-throws. Bailey swatted a Chad Patus attempt to give the Royals possession with 1:06 remaining. Senior
Andre Lockhart (St. James, Barbados, Coleridge and Pany) scored seven points in the final minutes, including a go-ahead layup at 0:39.
Barbee countered Lockhart's heroics with a bucket of his own to force overtime.
With the score deadlocked at 97 apiece, Tyshawn Good stole the ball from Hopkins with one second left in overtime and called time out. The Crusaders attempted a desperation heave across the court for a tip-in; however, Barbee’s pass sailed over a mound of finger tips and out of bounds – giving Queens the ball on their end of the court.
With one second remaining in the overtime period, Stabler passed the ball in to Bailey, who immediately attempted to shoot. Barbee fouled Bailey on the attempt.
Bailey sunk both free-throws to give the Royals the 99-97 victory.
Queens’ next game will take place at home against St. Andrews Presbyterian at 7:30 p.m.