AMHERST, N.Y. (JAN. 12, 2019) - Following their second half comeback on Friday night against conference foe Roberts Wesleyan College, the Knights were looking to further stronghold their conference standing Sunday afternoon going against the #14 Wildcats of Daemen College. But despite going into halftime tied 28-28, the Queens College men's basketball were unable to answer the second half shooting from the home side resulting in an 80-65 loss.
The Knights (3-13, 3-3 ECC) looked to answer whatever the Wildcats (12-3, 4-1 ECC) threw at them in the first half as they kept the game within one possession. Queens went on a 5-0 to knot the game at 10-10 following buckets from sophomores
Keenan Gorski and
Jelani Williams. But the Wildcats answered with a 10-2 run of their own as Knights went 1-7 FG in that time span. Trailing 20-12, the Knights were able to land shots as they answered with a 9-2 run to come within one while keeping the Wildcats to 1-6 FG. Queens finished the first half shooting 36.7%, while keeping the Wildcats to 34.3% with the game knotted at 28-28.
In the second half, Queens came out firing as they took a three point advantage (37-34) with shots from senior
Jordan Curtis, sophomore
Elijah Bovell and Gorski finding their range. But the lead was short lived as Daemen answered back with an 11-0 run to take a 45-37 lead. The Knights were held scoreless from 17:33 to 14:16 before a jumper from sophomore
Dwayne Henry Jr. found the spot to stop the bleeding. However, the Knights were still within distance trailing 45-40 before another scoreless run led the Wildcats to extend their advantage to double figures by 14 points (54-40) and hurt any further chance of a comeback by the Knights.
Bovell paced the Knights with his 12
th double-digit scoring effort of the season with 12 points (5-14 FG) along with three rebounds. Gorski contributed with 12 points (4-9 FG), while fellow classmate
Tyrese Crosdale poured in 10 points (4-7 FG). The knights shot 40.7% for the game, while the Wildcats used their familiar settings to shooting 50% from the field.
UP NEXT: The Knights will look to strengthen their conference standing (4
th place) as they travel to Sparkill, NY with a date against the three time defending conference champions in the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas (13-2, 5-0 ECC) on Wednesday, Jan 16. Tip-off slated for 7:30 pm.
