Queens finds its edge -- and the win column -- against Central Arkansas

 

Queens coach Grant Leonard guides the Royals in Wednesday's victory.  (Photo:  Queens University of Charlotte Athletics)

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CHARLOTTE – Coming off a tough road trip to Jacksonville and North Florida, Queens took the deck at Curry Arena Wednesday with a different focus.

That focus? “Playing angry.”

Whatever the focus was, it clearly worked. Queens led wire-to-wire – despite a wobbly stretch – and scored nearly half its points in transition in a 96-79 victory over Central Arkansas in ASUN play Wednesday night.

“We just wanted to come in and play angry,” Queens guard AJ McKee said after the game. “We knew we came off a couple losses back-to-back, and that’s not something we’re not used to in the Queens program. We wanted to protect Levine (Center), play angry, and get a win.”

Queens coach Grant Leonard expanded on the notion.

“I think our guys are frustrated, because we’ve played some good basketball and haven’t closed games,” Leonard said. “They really wanted to get this one to feel right about what we’re doing. I keep telling our guys that we’re close. I know we’re a young team, but we’re going to turn the corner.”

Queens (8-13, 2-4 ASUN) dictated the tempo of the contest almost from the opening jump. The Royals got back-to-back triples from Deyton Albury and Jaxon Pollard to jump out to a 6-0 lead. The home side barely needed more than six minutes to open up a double-digit lead as Chris Ashby splashed home a triple to put Queens ahead, 15-5. The margin hovered in that vicinity until a Tucker Anderson dunk reduced it to nine with 7:05 left in the first period. Central Arkansas would draw as close as eight, but Queens led by as many as 19 and took a 17-point margin to the interval.

Queens scored 1.275 points per possession in the opening period, finding the net on 55 percent of its possessions and pulling down 37 percent of their misses.

“Anytime we force more turnovers, we get more offensive rebounds, and we get the possessions up, it’s going to favor Queens,” Leonard said.

Central Arkansas (7-15, 3-3) trailed by as many as 24 four minutes into the second half, with a McKee jumper providing Queens a 65-41 advantage. The Bears then picked up pressure defense, compelling several Queens turnovers and using a 21-3 run to gradually shrink a 23-point lead down to just five at 71-66 with 8:31 left to play. Five different Bears scored during the stretch.

The media break served the Royals well, as Queens ripped a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to quickly reinflate the margin back to 14. Albury tallied six of the 10 points in the burst. After a 5-0 stretch from Central Arkansas, Queens again pushed the lead back to 16 with 3:17 to play. Central Arkansas struggled to draw any closer, and the Royals were able to comfortably put away the contest.

“I thought our guys played hard defensively. We did a great job with the game plan,” Leonard said. “The effort was excellent. The effort on the glass was excellent, especially in the first half. I thought it was A-plus. Anytime you have that kind of effort with that kind of ability to turn the ball over and get out and run, we’re going to be a dangerous team.”

McKee equaled his Division 1 career high, pouring in 28 on 11-of-21 shooting and 4-of-4 from the line. Albury tallied 18, again padding his numbers from the stripe on 11-of-12 free throw tries. Ashby cashed in five triples, finishing with 17. Freshman Bryce Cash finished two boards shy of a double-double, adding 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Cash has scored 30 points over his last two games, knocking down 13 of his last 18 tries from the floor.

“I felt this game favored me, because just playing against bigger guards, there’s always going to be someone bigger guarding me, because of my being the number one option on the offensive side,” McKee said. “I felt it helped me work at different areas of getting better.”

McKee also noted the efforts of Cash and forward Jacobi Sebock.

“It’s great watching them bloom,” McKee said. “Coming from the position where people watched me bloom, now I can see the younger guys who are coming after me bloom. It’s just an amazing thing, as a leader.”

The Royals shot 50.7 percent (34-of-67) from the maple, hitting 10-of-27 (37 percent) from beyond the arc. Queens saw 18 of its 24 free throw tries (75 percent) fall through the net. The Royals scored 45 points in transition.

“That obviously was our best offense tonight,” Leonard said. “We need to play fast to space the floor, and it really helps a lot of things. It gets us to the foul line and gets possessions up. This is the first game we’ve won the rebounding in a long time.”

“I feel like we’ve turned the corner,” McKee said. “We’ve just got to stack better days on better days, and we’re going to make a run in the ASUN.”

Central Arkansas made 42.4 percent (28-for-66) of its tries. The Bears hit just 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from deep while hitting 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the stripe. Elias Cato and Masai Olowokere paced the Bears with 16 apiece, dropping 13-of-25 combined shots. Anderson finished with 13 on 5-of-9 shooting, including a pair of threes. Daniel Sofield added 11 in reserve duty.

Both sides resume ASUN play Saturday afternoon. Central Arkansas returns home to the Farris Center in Conway, Ark., to square off with Kennesaw State. Game time is set for 4:00 (Eastern), with streaming over ESPN+. Queens travels to Florence, Ala., to take on North Alabama. Game time in the CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall is set for 7:00, with streaming coverage on ESPN+.

QUEENS 96, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 79

CENTRAL ARKANSAS (7-15, 3-3 ASUN)

Etim 1-4 0-0 2, Anderson 5-9 1-2 13, Kirsipuu 0-2 2-2 2, Olowokere 6-10 2-2 16, Daughtery Jr. 2-7 1-3 5, Guy-King 2-6 4-6 8, Sofield 3-8 4-4 11, Cato 7-15 1-1 16, Klintman 2-4 2-3 6, Bowman 0-1 0-0 0, Carr 0-0 0-0 0, Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Muse 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-66 17-23 79.

QUEENS (8-13, 2-4)

McLaurin 2-9 1-4 5, Pollard 2-5 0-0 5, McKee 11-21 4-4 28, Cash 6-9 0-0 12, Albury 3-7 11-12 18, Sebock 2-3 1-2 2-3 7, Ashby 6-9 0-0 17, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Threatt 1-1 0-1 2, Mathews 0-1 0-0 0, George 1-2 0-0 2, Krawczyk 0-0 0-0. Totals 34-67 18-24 96.

Halftime:  Queens 51-34. 3-Point goals:  Queens 10-27 (McLaurin 0-6, Pollard 1-2, McKee 2-6, Albury 1-2, Sebock 1-2, Ashby 5-8, George 0-1), Central Arkansas 6-18 (Anderson 2-4, Kirsipuu 0-1, Olowokere 2-4, Daughtery Jr. 0-2, Sofield 1-4, Cato 1-1, Klintman 0-1, Bowman 0-1). Fouled out:  Guy-King (UCA), Sebock (QUC). Rebounds:  Queens 38 (Sebock 9), Central Arkansas 36 (Cato 8). Assists: Queens 14 (Albury 6), Central Arkansas 10 (Olowokere 4). Total fouls:  Central Arkansas 21, Queens 18. Technicals:  NA.

Points off turnovers:  Queens 25, Central Arkansas 21.  Points in the paint:  Queens 44, Central Arkansas 38.  Second-chance points:  Central Arkansas 14, Queens 9.  Fast-break points:  Queens 45, Central Arkansas 17.  Bench points:  Central Arkansas 41, Queens 28.