FLUSHING, N.Y. (Feb. 27, 2019) – Despite it being Senior Night on Wednesday (Feb. 27), it was sophomore guards Elijah Bovell and Tyrese Crosdale that led a spirited charge for the Queens College men's basketball team against Saint Thomas Aquinas at Fitzgerald Gymnasium. It would, however, prove to be futile as the Spartans outlasted the Knights' second-half comeback to win a 75-66 game in Flushing.

QC seniors Jordan Curtis and Jerome Brown were honored in a pregame ceremony, surrounded by family and friends along with Head Coach Matt Collier and Interim Athletic Director Rob Twible.

Queens (7-20, 7-10 ECC) got off to a slow start from the field as the Knights were just 1-for-4 from the field in the opening four minutes of action. STAC (22-5, 14-3 ECC), meanwhile, went on an 11-2 run to open the contest until Crosdale caught fire over the next portion of the contest. The sophomore guard would score ten of the next twelve points for Queens to bring the home side within a bucket at 16-14 with eleven-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening frame. From there, the Spartans re-took control of the contest with an 11-4 run that brought St. Thomas Aquinas up to a 27-18 lead; Bovell knocked home a lay-up to keep Queens close for the moment as the Knights trailed by just seven points at 27-20 with under seven minutes to play. QC could only watch, however, as the visitors closed out the half on a 14-3 run with Osbel Caraballo's jumper at the first-half buzzer putting STAC ahead by a 41-23 score going into the halftime break. The Spartans also held Queens scoreless over the final four minutes-plus of play in the first half.

Jordan Curtis converted a three-point play for the Knights to open the second half but STAC continued to answer every bucket Queens would produce. The Spartans led 48-32 five minutes into the frame and 54-40 with nine minutes to play in the contest. Queens would spend the next several minutes chipping away further and further as the Knights would cut the lead to single digits on a fast-break lay-up by Crosdale with exactly six minutes remaining on the clock. QC trailed 60-51 at this point and after a jumper by the Spartans' Demetre Roberts, the Knights went on an 11-4 run with the sophomores doing most of the damage. A Crosdale three-pointer with two-and-a-half minutes to go brought Queens within a 66-62 margin but Saint Thomas Aquinas would have just enough left in the tank to repel the attempted come-from-behind miracle in Flushing.

Crosdale was tied with STAC's Sekou Cisse for the most points in the contest, as the sophomore guard had 20 points and shot 8-for-14 from the floor in the effort. Bovell added 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals while Shomari Redd had eight points. Curtis contributed three points and two rebounds in his final home game as a Knight while Brown earned the start and played three minutes with his one three-point attempt rattling out to open the contest.

Cisse's 20 points were bolstered by five rebounds and three assists as Caraballo added 17 points and Roberts chipped in 12 for St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Knights will conclude their regular season on Saturday (Mar. 2) in Washington, D.C. against the Firebirds of the University of the District of Columbia. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.; a Knights win will put them into the East Coast Conference postseason tournament for the second time in three seasons.