LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Nov. 27, 2019) - Despite a 12-point second half from junior guard Keenan Gorski, the Queens College men's basketball team could not hold onto a halftime advantage as the Knights lost a Wednesday (Nov. 27) matinee with Georgian Court by a score of 63-58 at the Wellness Center in Lakewood, N.J. The Knights fell to 1-6 on the season with the loss while Georgian Court picked up its first victory on the 2019-20 campaign; the Lions are now 1-4.

Gorski had 15 total points---12 in the second half on a 7-for-8 free throw shooting performance as well as a 2-for-4 effort from the floor---to go along with six rebounds for Queens. Reigning Co-ECC Player of the Week Elijah Bovell continued a hot start to his season with 21 points despite only shooting 2-of-8 from the floor in the second half of the game. The junior added six rebounds, three assists and three steals and was 9-for-21 overall in the contest shooting-wise with three shots made from beyond the three-point line. Senior Shomari Redd added ten points and a team-high five assists while Eddie Mehmetaj led the effort off the bench with his best game as a Knight so far, garnering seven points and seven boards. 

Caleb Bowser and Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor combined for 34 points to lead GCU in the home-court victory, with the former leading his side with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Ortiz-Traylor, a former All-ECC First-Team standout at LIU Post, added 16 points with seven rebounds and four blocked shots on the afternoon.

Queens led 31-26 at the halftime break and secured its largest advantage of the contest with seven minutes gone by in the second half on a Redd lay-up; this gave QC a 44-35 lead. Georgian Court responded with a 9-0 run started by Bowser and Ortiz-Traylor and finished with back-to-back buckets by Matt Ringel at the midpoint of the period. After Gorski and Ortiz-Traylor traded two-point efforts, the host Lions took the lead for good on a Bowser bucket with eight-and-a-half minutes to play. His three-pointer a few minutes later gave GCU a 56-48 lead and the Knights would not get within three points save for a Gorski treble with ninety seconds to play. Free throws sealed the deal for Georgian Court as the Knights could not hit three-pointers down the stretch.

The visiting Knights shot 38% (21-55) from the field in the contest and hit 8-of-24 (33%) from beyond the three-point line. Georgian Court, conversely, was 13-of-28 (46%) from the floor in the second half alone and the Lions hit 44% (8-18) of their three-point attempts. The hosts won the rebounding battle by a 39-31 margin but Queens forced GCU to commit 20 turnovers which in turn led to 19 points.

The Knights return to action on Monday (Dec. 2) following the Thanksgiving break with a 7 p.m. match-up against East Stroudsburg University at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.