CHARLOTTE – With just hours to go before Thanksgiving
officially arrived, some might have playfully wondered about the things for
which Queens basketball might be thankful. It only took a segment or two of Wednesday
night’s game to inspire an appreciative mood in the Royals and their fans.
Queens got 26 points from guard AJ McKee and career-high
outputs from two additional players, leading wire-to-wire in a 97-84 victory
over FDU Wednesday night at Curry Arena.
“The biggest thing I said in the pregame talk was that the
little things matter,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said after the game. “I
thought it was going to come down to paint touches and ball control – we did an
unbelievable job in the first half with two turnovers. That’s what FDU takes
advantage of – they do a lot of the little things and they get people out of
sorts in the game and are able to take advantage of it. I don’t think we got
rattled offensively the entire game.”
Queens (3-3) set the table early in the game. B.J. McLaurin
canned a pair of triples to set the tone for the Royals, followed by a McKee
bucket nearly seven minutes into the game that gave the home side a
double-digit lead it would never relinquish. The McKee bucket came as part of a
14-0 run that afforded Queens a 31-12 lead at the 11-minute mark.
“(We wanted to have) no hesitation, but not to settle – get the
shot we want and don’t hesitate,” McKee said. “I felt like we passed up a lot
of shots in the (62-52 loss at Drexel) that were open. In this game, we took
those shots, and we knocked down those shots.”
FDU (4-2) continued to apply ball pressure on both ends of
the floor, but Queens refused to blink. The Royals hit 21-of-37 shots (56.8
percent) in the opening stanza, breaking the Knights’ press with continued
patience from guard Deyton Albury.
“The gameplan was just to come out and handle the press,” Albury
said. “They’re a big pressing team. The previous week, we were just focusing on
that, getting downhill, and finding shooters.
“With pressing, that comes with a lot of fouls. Coach
prepared us on handling the press and initiating contact.”
“That was all we worked on the last two days was attacking
pressure,” Leonard said. “We knew they were going to come. We didn’t want to
panic in any traps. I don’t think we panicked in any traps the entire game. I
thought our guys did an unbelievable job of getting out (of the trap) and
attacking. I thought we got a lot of easy baskets at the rim and from three. It
was a huge deal breaking their pressure.”
The Royals hit 8-of-10 tries from the line in the opening
half en route to a 56-43 advantage at the interval.
Sean Moore helped FDU draw a bit closer with a layup on the Knights’ first possession of the second half that drew the visitors within 11. Every
FDU punch, though, seemed to be met with a Queens counterpunch. As quickly as
the Knights drew within 11, a 7-0 Queens burst eventually helped double the
lead. The Royals’ lead hovered in the upper teens for much of the second half, with
a Davin Francis trey lowering the FDU deficit to 12. Time was about to run out
on the Knights, though, with a Logan Threatt free throw providing the final
margin seconds later.
The bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort from the Royals was
no surprise to Albury.
“The season’s still young, but we come to practice every
day, go hard, and prepare,” Albury said. “Coach stays on us about defending,
rebounding, and stuff like that. We want to create the identity that we are one
of the toughest teams in college basketball. It’s just a process.”
“We’re taking it game by game to make our defense better,
step by step,” McKee added. “That’s what we focused on coming into the week –
to get back to us and our identity of being a defensive team.”
The Royals also exerted pressure in the paint and on the
boards. Queens outscored FDU 44-30 in the paint, snared 40 caroms, and made
22-of-28 free throws on the night.
“(44-30) is a big deal,” Leonard said. “I think we slowed
down at the rim in this game. I think we were able to finish more effectively.
Last game versus Drexel, we kind of rushed at the rim and we were 12-for-34 at
the rim. I was really happy with our guys being able to finish a little bit
better, but also get fouls because they took their time instead of just rushing
at the rim, which allowed us to get to the free throw line, as well.”
Georgetown transfer center Malcolm Wilson also loomed large –
literally and figuratively – for the Royals. Wilson played 20 minutes and,
despite scoring only four points, grabbed seven rebounds, blocked five shots,
and recorded an assist.
“I don’t know the last time we had a guy with five blocks in
a game. It’s been a long, long time,” Leonard said. “I told Malcolm that I don’t
care about the offense and just to keep protecting the rim. I thought he had
his best game as a Royal. He’s really just getting his feet wet.”
McKee’s 26 paced the Royals on 11-of-19 shooting. McKee also
grabbed four boards and dished three dimes in 31 minutes of play. Albury also
set a Division 1 career high of 21 points on 6-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-10
from the line.
“Teams are going to throw new things at him,” Leonard said
of Albury. “He still had a possession or two where I thought he was a little
out of sorts. I just told him to take each possession one at a time and
understand what we’re trying to do. It’s very normal for junior college players
to have a little struggle early in the season. I’m glad he’s getting this kind
of experience early, because he should be ready come conference time.”
Threat also added a career-high for the Royals, as the freshman guard logged 14 points in 13 minutes on 5-for-8 from the deck. McLaurin tallied 12 on 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line. The Royals hit 33-of-68 (48.5 percent) from the floor in the victory. Moore recorded a double-double for FDU, booking 21 points and snatching 10 boards in an 8-for-10 performance from the field. Ansley Almonor added 18, hitting 7-of-16 tries. Joe Munden, Jr. contributed 12, battling much of the night through an apparent leg injury. The Knights shot 42.4 percent (28-for-66) from the field and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the line.
Both teams are off until Saturday. FDU will square off with
Jacksonville in the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic in Moon Township, Pa., in a
game set for a 4:00 (Eastern) tip. Queens travels to the Robins Center at the
University of Richmond to try to squash the Spiders. Game time is set for 7:00
(Eastern), with streaming coverage planned for ESPN+.
QUEENS 97, FDU 84
FDU (4-2)
Munden 4-10 1-2 12, Almonor 7-16 2-2 18, Moore 8-10 4-4 21,
Emanuel 1-9 4-6 7, Jamison 2-7 2-2 7, Morris 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 2-5 2-3 6, Bligen
2-3 4-6 8, Lamaute 0-0 0-0 0, Francis 1-2 0-0 3, Reynolds 1-3 0-0 3, Warren 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 28-66-19-25 84.
QUEENS (3-3)
McKee 11-19 2-3 26, McLaurin 3-3 4-4 12, Cash 3-5 1-1 8,
Ashby 3-9 0-0 6, Albury 6-11 8-10 21, George 1-4 2-2 5, Krawczyk 0-1 0-0 0,
Threatt 5-8 2-4 14, Pollard 0-2 1-2 1, Wilson 1-6 2-2 4. Totals 33-68 22-28 97
Halftime: Queens 56-43.
3-Point goals: Queens 9-28 (McKee 2-6,
McLaurin 2-2, Cash 1-2, Ashby 0-6, Albury 1-2, George 1-3, Krawczyk 0-1,
Threatt 2-4, Pollard 0-2), FDU 9-31 (Munden 3-8, Almonor 2-6, Moore 1-2,
Emanuel 1-4, Jamison 1-6, Morris 0-1, Brown 0-1, Francis 1-2, Reynolds 0-1).
Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Queens 40 (Wilson 7), FDU 36 (Moore 10).
Assists: Queens 17 (Albury 5), FDU 12
(Jamison 6). Total fouls: FDU 21, Queens
20. Technicals: NA.
Points off turnovers: FDU 17, Queens 17. Points in the paint: Queens 44, FDU 30. Second-chance points: FDU 13, Queens 10. Fast-break points: Queens 21, FDU 20. Bench points: Queens 24, FDU 19.
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