FLUSHING, N.Y. – On Wednesday evening the Queens College men's basketball team wrapped a five-game homestand in East Coast Conference action against the visiting Lions of Molloy University inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
Three Knights registered in double figures led by
Shamar Chester's (Queens, N.Y.) team-high 15 points, while senior
Tyler Carey (Bay Shore, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore
Jayden Seraphin (Lakeview, N.Y.) tallied 11 points but a second-half rally would fall short as the Knights fell to the final score of 72-65.
Game Recap
Chester and Seraphin led the offense with an early 11-3 lead as they held the Lions to 1-7 from the field.
With Queens leading 13-5 with 15:23 left in the first half, Molloy would together a 10-2 run as the Knights missed their six shots and committed four turnovers as the visitors tied the game 15-15 at the 11:29 mark.
Sophomore
Tyron Wright (Camby, IN) would break the scoreless drought for the Knights with a three-pointer at the 9:43 mark for a 18-15 lead.
Both sides would trade buckets over the next two minutes of play but with the game tied 23-23, Molloy would go on an 8-0 run forcing a Queens timeout as they fell behind 31-23 with 3:58 left until halftime.
Cold shooting would continue to hurt the Knights as they went into halftime trailing 39-26.
Carey would open the second half with five straight points for the Knights as they looked to cut into their deficit.
Trailing by 12 points, 43-31, Queens would trade buckets with the Lions but unable to get stops on the defensive end, they would trail by 10 points, 50-40 with 12:01 left in the game.
Looking to make an inroad into their deficit, an 11-2 run by the Knights would see them get within two, 53-51 with 8:16 to go.
But Molloy would quickly wrestle the momentum back with a 9-0 run Queens committed two turnovers as a two-point deficit ballooned back to up 11, 62-51 with 5:21 left in the game.
Once again Queens would trade buckets, but with the Knights trailing by 10, 67-57 with 3:11 left in the game, six straight made free throws, five from Chester would see Queens get within five, 68-63 with 1:48 to go.
The Knights would force a turnover as they looked to keep the momentum going but a missed three-pointer with 1:25 left in the game would derail the comeback attempt as the Knights ended their five-game homestand with their fifth straight loss to the final score of 72-65.
By The Numbers
- Chester led the offense with a team-high 15 points (4-13 FG, 5-5 FT) to go with seven rebounds. While Carey recorded his third double-double in conference play with 14 points (5-12 FG, 4-6 FT) with 12 rebounds, two steals, and one block.
- Seraphin tallied 11 points (4-8 FG) to go with three rebounds and two steals.
- The Knights went 22-66 from the field with a 33.3% shooting performance, while the Lions shot 46.9% going 30-64 from the field.
NEXT GAME: Head coach
Matt Collier and the Knights return to non-conference play as they travel to Cheyney, PA on Saturday (Jan. 7) afternoon with a matchup against the Wolves of Cheyney University. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), Queens College MBB (@QCKnights_MBB) and Instagram (qcknightsny), men's basketball (qcmensbball).
