STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Needing a sweep of the Dolphins of the College of Staten Island Wednesday evening to earn a crucial tiebreaker, the Queens College men's basketball team's comeback attempt would fall short despite the sophomore duo of
Sunnie Diamond (Hiram, GA) and
Tyron Wright (Camby, IN) combining for 40 points in a 73-67 East Coast Conference loss.
Game Recap
The first half saw six score ties and eight lead exchanges as both sides traded buckets over 18 minutes of play.
With the Knights trailing 9-8 with 13:04 left until halftime, Queens would go on a 7-2 run as they took a 15-11 lead. But the Dolphins would respond with a 7-3 run as they knotted the game at 18-18 with 9:03 left in the first half.
Led by Diamond and Wright, the Knights would on an 8-2 run from 8:29 to 4:51 as they took a four-point lead of 26-22.
After a three-pointer from the Dolphins cut the score down to 26-25, a layup from senior
Tyler Carey (Bay Shore, N.Y.) would put the Knights back up by three, 28-25 before the home side went on a 5-2 run to tie the game at 30-30 with 2:28 left until halftime.
The Dolphins would continue their run as they took a 35-30 with 1:21 to go before a Knights' three-pointer brought them within two, 35-33 with 20 seconds left.
But the Dolphins would pick up an
'and-one' with two seconds left until halftime as they extended their lead to four, 37-33 heading into the locker rooms.
Both sides struggled out of halftime as they combined to go 0-9 from the field before the Dolphins broke the drought at the 17:34 mark as they went on a 6-0 run to take a 10-point lead of 43-33 at the 15:15 mark.
A deep shot from Wright would break the scoreless run for Queens at the 15:03 mark, however, the home side would continue to find a timely shot late into the shot clock to break the Knights' defense.
Staten Island kept their lead above nine points for the majority of the second half as Queens tried to stay within distance of making a comeback.
Trailing by 11, 69-58 with 2:25 left in the game, Carey second made three-pointer of his career and first of the season would help Queens start a 7-2 run as they cut the deficit down to four, 69-65 with 25 seconds left in the game.
But the Dolphins would ice the game at the charity stripe converting on all four attempts to earn a crucial 73-67 ECC victory over the Knights.
By The Numbers
- Diamond matched a career-high 24 points (10-16 FG) with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and three steals to lead the offense off the bench.
- Wright recorded a career-high 16 points (5-10 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-5 FT) to go with six rebounds.
- While Carey notched nine points (4-10 FG, 1-1 3PT) with four rebounds, three blocks, and one steal on the evening.
- Queens shot 41.3% as they went 26-63 from the field while the Dolphins shot 44.3% going 27-61 from the field.
- Queens won the boards battle (32-27) as the Knights held an edge of 18-9 on second-chance points.
- The Knights committed a season-low eight turnovers, but both teams were even on points off turnovers (9-9).
- The Knights bench outscored the Dolphins 53-3 in the contest
NEXT GAME: Head coach
Matt Collier and the Knights conclude the week at home as they welcome the Firebirds of The University of District of Columbia to town on Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon in a crucial conference matchup. Tip-off set for 1:30 p.m.
Live Stats: Men's Basketball | Live Stream: ECC Network
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