FLUSHING, N.Y. – Despite a first career double-double from senior Evan Goldberg (Wantagh, N.Y) with 11 points (5-of-8 FG) and 11 rebounds, the Queens College men's basketball team were unable to close out their game against Caldwell University Cougars Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Knights (2-2 overall) fell 66-61 to the Cougars (4-3 overall) at Fitzgerald Gymnasium to conclude non-conference action. 
 
How It Happened
 
Queens got off to a quick start as juniors William Ellis (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Tyler Carey (Bay Shore, N.Y.) tallied the first four points of the game. After the Cougars tied the game 4-4, Queens went on a 5-0 run led by Ellis and freshman Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) to take a 9-4 lead just before the 16-minute timeout. 
 
Out of the timeout, the Cougars would go on a 7-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. The first half would see three lead changes and seven ties. Both sides would continue to trade buckets with neither side unable to pull away. 
 
Goldberg would tie the game 15-15 before Ellis knocked out a three-pointer to give Queens an 18-15 lead with 9:01 left in the first half. Led by Mark Heber and Anthony Cooper, Caldwell would respond with an 8-1 run to go up 23-19. Senior Eddie Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y.) would tie the game 25-25 on a Cougars turnover with 4:01 remaining in the first half. 
 
Despite shooting 53.8 percent from the field, the Knights would go into halftime trialing 37-35.
 
Mehmetaj would tie the game 37-37 with a second-chance bucket to open the scoring in the second half.  But the back-and-forth contest would continue as the Knights looked to have an answer for each Cougars' bucket.
 
After Mehmetaj tied the game 50-50 with 10:52 left on the clock, Queens would go on a 7-4 run led by sophomore Dion Herrington (Englewood, N.J.) taking a 57-54 lead. But Heber would level the score 57-57 on his second three-pointer of the half forcing a Knights timeout. 
 
Both teams would go 0-4 over the next minute and a half as the contest entered the final 3:40 minute of play with the final media timeout.
 
Tied 57-57, the Knights would commit back-to-back turnovers as the Cougars closed the game on a 9-4 run to take a 66-61 victory in Flushing. 
 
By the Numbers
Queens was led by three players scoring in double figures as Herrington led the Knights with a team-high 13 points (6-of-11 FG), while Ellis tallied 12 points (4-of-13 FG) Goldberg notched his first career double-double with a career-high 11 points and 11 rebounds. For the first time in his collegiate career, Goldberg tallied double-digits boards in back-to-back games. 
 
Queens shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field and 25.0 percent (2-of-8) from three. Caldwell was held to 40.0 percent (22-of-55) from the field but shot 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from beyond the arc. The Knights were hurt by 46.7 percent (7-of-15) shooting from the charity stripe, while the visitors shot 94.4 percent (17-of-18) from the line. 
 
UP NEXT:  East Coast Conference play opens up on Wednesday (Dec. 8) as Queens concludes their three-game homestand against fellow CUNY member College of Staten Island Dolphins. Tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. 
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