WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 26, 2020) – The road to an East Coast Conference Tournament bid ran through our nation's capital for the Queens College men's basketball team for the second consecutive season. The Knights needed a win Wednesday (Feb. 26) versus UDC to sew up a spot in the ECC Championship chase next week.
 
The win did not come, however, as Queens fell to the host Firebirds by a 72-55 score at UDC Gymnasium. Thus, the Knights' play-off hopes are out of their hands as the regular season concludes this weekend.
 
Queens finishes the regular season with an overall record of 8-18 and a 6-10 mark in East Coast Conference play. District of Columbia, meanwhile, improves to 11-16 on the year and 6-9 in ECC action. 
 
In their final regular season game in a Knights uniform, seniors Kevin Buron and Shomari Redd posted 11 points apiece to lead Queens in the contest. Buron also added five rebounds and two steals, one of which led to a break-away slam dunk in the second half. Eddie Mehmetaj had eight points off the bench to go along with 15 rebounds and three assists while David Grady III collected eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Zachary Olukanni's 18 points led UDC in the win with Aaren Smith going off for a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double as the Firebirds shot 50% (29-58) from the floor and limited Queens to a 32% (20-62) shooting percentage on the night.
 
Queens scored the first points on the night thanks to a Grady dunk and a lay-up by Elijah Bovell with less than a minute gone by in the opening half, but UDC scored the next seven points in the game to grab their first lead minutes later. A three from Redd and free throws from Buron gave QC an 11-8 lead with six-and-a-half minutes played in the game before the Firebirds assumed a lead that would not be relinquished as Isaiah Robinson hit two jumpers to put UDC up by a 14-11 score with twelve minutes left in the half. The Firebirds led 36-27 at the halftime break and went on a 9-0 run to open the second half; in doing so, the hosts put the contest away for good.
 
Follow back with www.queensknights.com for further information regarding potential play-off match-ups and scenarios for the Queens College men's basketball team.