SPARKILL, N.Y. – Looking to rebound back from Wednesday's loss, the Queens College men's basketball team was unable to keep up with nationally ranked #22 St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans Saturday afternoon in East Coast Conference action.
The Knights fell 71-59 to move to 8-8 overall, 6-6 in ECC play, while the Spartans improved to 19-4 overall, 12-1 in conference play.
How It Happened
Queens got off to a strong start as freshman
Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) did the early damage tallying six points to put the Knights up by eight, 10-2 at the 16:31 mark.
Junior
Tyler Carey (Bay Shore N.Y.) tallied four straight points to keep the Knights lead at eight, 14-6 with 14:27 to go in the first half.
Leading 16-8, Queens saw their advantage cut down to four as they went scoreless from 13:39 to 8:42 before a layup by freshman
Jayden Seraphin (Lakeview, N.Y) stopped the scoring drought.
After Carey put the Knights up by four, 20-16 with 7:48 remaining in the first half, the Spartans would hold Queens to two field goals over the final 7:48 and end the half on 17-4 run and take a nine-point, 33-24 advantage going into halftime.
The Spartans would quickly extend their lead to 14, 40-26, as they opened the second half on a 7-2 run before senior
Eddie Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y.) bucket got the Knights within 12, 40-12 with 17:41 to go in the game.
Queens would attempt to rally back and continuously try to keep the game within three-possession as Mehmetaj and sophomore
Dion Herrington (Englewood, N.J.) did the majority of the scoring in the second half.
After the Spartans went up by 10, 47-37, the Knights would get within six points twice with 11 minutes left in the game. But Queens would go scoreless from 10:50 to 5:50 as a six-point deficit ballooned to 21 points before the Knights ran out of energy to fall 71-59 Saturday afternoon.
By the Numbers
Mehmetaj led the charge with another near double-double as the senior tallied 10 points (5-of-7 FG) with eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. While Herrington notched 10 points (4-of-8 FG) with four rebounds and three steals.
Queens shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the field, 14.3 percent (2-of-14) from the beyond, while the Spartans were held to 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the field, 34.5 percent (10-of-29) from three.
The Knights were hurt by turnovers as the Spartans converted 21 turnovers into 27 points.
Around the ECC
The Knights dropped down to fourth place in the conference standing but stay above Bridgeport, Molloy, and District of Columbia as Molloy fell to Mercy. While Roberts Wesleyan moved into third place with a victory over District of Columbia.
UP NEXT: It will be a quick turnaround for the Knights as they conclude the ECC series against the Spartans Sunday (Feb. 13) afternoon. Tip-off set for 3:00 p.m.
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