CHARLOTTE – For Queens’ final home game of 2025, it
seemed only appropriate that its contest against South Carolina State was the
annual Christmas sweater game. The first half was as awesome as coach Grant
Leonard’s Three Wise Men “We Dem Boys” sweater.
The second…well, at times, it was like that scratchy, brown garment
you get from a distant family member and have to fake a smile while holding it
up for everyone to see.
Queens got 23 points from guard Nas Mann, who led five
Royals in double figures in a 102-78 victory over the Bulldogs. Leonard seemed
willing to add part of the game to his collection of 40-plus holiday sweaters.
The rest, he seemed willing to regift.
“That was the problem, 20 minutes isn’t 40,” said Leonard
when commenting on the difference in defensive effort between the first and
second halves. “This group can be special if we decide that our identity is
going to start with defense as a group. I’m not sure we have enough guys on the
team individually that identify as defensive players.”
“I’m proud that we were able to win the game by 24. I wasn’t
happy with our second-half defensive effort at all.”
Those first 20 minutes started like a coveted present for
the Royals. Queens (5-5) started the game on an 8-0 run, grabbing a double-digit
lead just over two-and-a-half minutes into the action. Mann helped key the
early burst, booking eight of the first 13 Queens points. South Carolina State
(0-11) gradually carved the deficit to six twice in the first six minutes,
first on a Jayden Johnson jumper and later on a Teon Tindal bucket.
Queens then treated the visitors like the party guests who
brought the months-old fruit cake.
The Royals ripped off a sustained run in which they scored
12 straight points and 20 of 27 in the sequence, where freshman guard Jordan
Watford scored the first five points and Mann the final four of the initial
run. The burst put Queens ahead, 42-20, at the final media stoppage of the half.
The Bulldogs would work the game within 18, but Kam Clark closed the period
with a jumper and a buzzer-beating heave, putting Queens ahead, 49-26, at the
interval.
Carson Schwieger immediately exorcised his first-half
struggles as the second period started, knocking down a pair of triples to
start the Royals on a 6-0 run. South Carolina State responded, tallying 17 of
the next 26 points in a run keyed by guard Owen Bronston. Bronston booked 11 of
the 17 points and knocked down three triples in the sequence, cutting the
Queens lead to 64-43.
The Bulldogs and Royals then traded scores, with a rim-rattling
Cam Clark dunk moving SC State within 22. The dunk sparked a Queens run, with
Mann and freshman Isaiah Henry scoring the next nine points and extending the
Royals’ advantage to 80-49 with 9:34 to play. State answered with an 11-2 salvo
of its own to again draw within 21 with 7:19 remaining. Queens would never allow
the visitors to draw closer.
Leonard expressed his frustration despite the result.
“We’re very talented – don’t get me wrong – but we took our
foot off the pedal,” Leonard said. “We allowed them to dictate the second half
and how it was going to be played. They got scrappy and we did not stay solid.
(In the) first half, (we committed) four fouls. In the second half, 14 fouls.
That’s not going to get it done. That was the difference in the game.”
As much as Mann keyed the first half, Schwieger keyed the
second. Mann poured in a career-high 23 on 6-of-9 from the field and 9-of-12
from the charity stripe, while Schwieger shook off a 1-for-6 start from the
field to contribute 17 while hitting four of his final five shots.
The pair shared a common theme: Trust.
“I just have the trust that my teammates and coaches
instilled in me every single day,” Mann said. “If I miss a shot, I know they’re
looking at me (and telling me to) take the next one.”
As for Schwieger – well, this may sound familiar.
“Carson mentioned going 1-for-6 to start,” Mann said. “(We
told him), ‘You better not stop shooting the ball.’ It’s just the confidence
they give us every single day.”
“The first half was rough,” Schwieger said. “I felt like I
got a lot of good looks and then I came back and everyone told me to keep
shooting the ball. Obviously, I was down a little bit because I thought I had a
lot of good looks, but then the guys – Jordan Watford got me started. He (found
me for) a clean look in the corner, then hit me for one more. After that,
(Leonard) got a couple plays in for me and I knocked them down. It’s just the
trust they have in me. It’s easy to play like that.”
The ease of play and crispness with which Queens moved the
ball offensively was on full display, as the Royals scored over 100 points for
the second time in as many games. Queens dished 24 helpers on 33 made shots and
made 14 threes.
“I didn’t even realize we had that many assists,” Leonard
said. “Last game (a 107-74 win over Gardner-Webb), we had 23. This game was 24.
We’re good offensively – and I don’t want to harp on the wrong things – but I
actually thought we left a lot of meat on the bone. We missed a lot of clean
threes from really good shooters.”
“However, the ball moved and we gook good shots. We
protected the ball and we got to the foul line. There were so many good things
offensively, but to win a championship, you’re going to have to win when you
don’t make shots. The first half showed how good we could be defensively. The
second half showed what we look like when we’re not locked in defensively.”
Mann’s 23 led Queens and all scorers. Schwieger closely
trailed with 17, tying his career-best from earlier this season against Sacred
Heart. Guard Yoav Berman scored 15 off the bench on 5-for-9 shooting (4-for-4
free throws), with Henry and Avantae Parker adding 10 apiece. The Royals shot
50 percent (33-for-66) on the night, with 36 percent (14-for-39) of their
threes finding the net. Queens also canned 22-of-29 (75.9 percent) from the
line.
Bronston paced the Bulldogs with 17, righting an 0-for-6 ship
from the first half to finish 6-for-14 from the floor. Johnson, Florian
Tenebay, and Chris Parker added 10 each, with Parker snatching 20 of his team’s
40 boards. Parker had only collected 17 total caroms in his prior games since
transferring in from Cape Fear Community College before the season. SC State knocked down 42.6 percent of its
tries (29-for-68 from the deck), with 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) successfully
connecting from distance. The visitors also hit 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) from
the line.
Queens returns to action Sunday evening at 5:00 (Eastern)
against Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in
Winston-Salem, N.C. The game will appear on ACC Network. SC State will next
play at home Tuesday evening at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center in
Orangeburg, S.C. Tip time is set for 6:00.
QUEENS 102, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 78
SC STATE (0-11)
D. Wright 3-4 0-0 6, Tenebay 4-6 2-5 10, Bronston 6-14 0-0
17, Johnson 4-13 1-2 10, Clark 4-9 0-0 8, Treadwell 2-6 0-0 6, Hodge 2-3 0-0 4,
R. Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Tindal 2-2 3-5 7, Parker 2-11 6-6 10, Okojie 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 29-68 12-18 78.
QUEENS (5-5)
Parker 3-3 3-4 10, Schwieger 5-11 2-2 17, Watford 1-3 2-3
5, Mann 6-9 9-12 23, Ashby 4-12 0-0 11, Jabriel 2-4 0-1 5, Berman 5-9 4-4 15,
Henry 5-6 0-1 10, Larson 0-3 2-2 2, Clark 2-3 0-0 4, Celestin 0-0 0-0 0, Crider
0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-66 22-29 102.
Halftime: Queens 49-26. 3-Point
goals: Queens 14-39 (Parker 1-1, Schwieger 5-11, Watford 1-3, Mann
2-3, Ashby 3-10, Jabriel 1-2, Berman 1-5, Henry 0-1, Clark 0-1, Crider 0-2), SC
State 8-18 (Tenebay 0-1, Bronston 5-8, Johnson 1-4, Treadwell 2-5). Fouled
out: NA. Rebounds: SC
State 40 (Parker 20), Queens 38 (Schwieger/Mann/Henry/Larson 6). Total
fouls: SC State 21, Queens 18. Technicals: NA.
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