FLUSHING, N.Y. (Jan. 15, 2020) – Despite racing out to an early edge, the Queens College men's basketball team ran out of gas and suffered from poor three-point shooting as the Knights fell by a 70-57 score to Mercy College on Wednesday (Jan. 15) at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
Queens falls to 4-12 on the season and 2-4 in East Coast Conference play while Mercy improves to 3-12 on the year and 2-4 in league action.
Junior guard
Elijah Bovell led the Knights with 19 points while
Tyrese Crosdale hit four three-pointers and ended the game with 14 points.
Eddie Mehmetaj had a team-high 11 rebounds in the effort.
Nakeem Hamilton led Mercy with 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while Bryan Griffin added 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Garrett Kirkland had 11 points for the Mavericks in the win.
Queens led for much of the first half, bolstered by a 13-4 run over the first seven minutes of play. Crosdale had five of the Knights' points in that spurt as Queens continued to lead and respond to anything and everything that Mercy would put forth as the minutes continued to wind down. Following a pair of free throws from Mehmetaj that put QC up by a 26-17 score, Mercy went on a 19-6 run over the final seven minutes to grab its first lead. The Mavericks' edge did not arrive until free throws and a subsequent bucket by Hamilton---who had 13 points in the first half to lead all scorers. Lamont Williams nailed a three-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the opening frame to give Mercy a 36-32 lead going into the locker room.
The visitors opened the second half on a 10-2 run over the first four minutes of play and a 17-4 spurt through the opening seven minutes of the final period. Griffin and Hamilton did much of the damage in the second half as Mercy shot 52.4% (11-21) from the floor over the final twenty minutes. Queens, meanwhile, could not get anything rolling from three-point distance; the Knights were 0-of-13 from long range with Crosdale knocking down the only trebles on the evening.
Queens will next face St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday (Jan. 18) at 3 p.m. in Sparkill, N.Y.
