FLUSHING, N.Y. – Looking to conclude their opening two-game homestand on a winning note, the Queens College men's basketball team welcomed the Yellow Jackets of American International College to Fitzgerald Gymnasium Wednesday evening in non-conference play.
Four Knights led the scoring effort with senior
Jayden Seraphin (Lakeview, N.Y.) matching a game-high 17 points, while the trio of senior forward
Damiri Lindo (Oakland, CA), senior guard
Nasan Ayala (LeFrak City, N.Y.) and junior guard
Eric Tynes (Springfield, MA) combined for 30 points as the Knights held off a late rally from the Yellow Jackets to earn a 67-63 non-conference victory for their first win of the year.
GAME RECAP
The Knights came out of the gate firing as they opened the game with a 6-2 lead forcing the Yellow Jackets to take a timeout at the 16:49 mark.
Queens would not let the timeout slow their momentum as they held the visitors to 1-of-9 from the field while extending their lead to 16-3 by the 13:45 mark.
The Yellow Jackets would get their second made field of the game at the 13:29 mark as Queens led to the score of 16-5.
But the Knights would continue to apply the pressure on both ends of the court as they went on an 8-4 run to take a 24-9 lead by the under-12 media timeout at the 10:44 mark.
However as the Knights hit a shooting slump over the next four minutes of play, the visitors would go on an 8-0 run as they cut Queens' lead down to single digits, 24-17 by the 6:31 mark.
Looking to break the drought junior guard
Jade Tse (Queens, N.Y.) would connect with Seraphin for an alley-oop as Queens broke their scoreless run to start a 10-0 run from the 6:11 mark to 4:17 mark as Tse made a layup before the duo of senior guard
Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) and Tynes connected from deep as the Knights extended their lead back to 17, 34-17.
As both teams went scoreless over the next 2:06 minute of play, Tynes would end the final 1:33 of play with five points as Queens took an 18-point lead of 39-21 into the locker room.
The Knights would hold the Yellow Jackets to six made field goals on 21.4 % shooting, while Queens made 15 field goals on 40.5 % shooting for their 18-point lead.
AIC opened the second half scoring back-to-back buckets forcing the Knights to take an early timeout at the 18:33 mark.
The duo of Ayala and Lindo would combine for eight points over the next three minutes of play as Queens extended their lead back to 17 points, 47-30 at the 15:56 mark.
But as the Knights hit another scoring drought, timely buckets from the Yellow Jackets would see them start to cut into the home side's lead.
AIC would cut Queens' lead down to 11 points, 51-40 by the 12:06 mark before junior forward
Jaden Pena (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Chester combined for six points to extend their lead back to 15, 57-42 by the 8:55 mark.
Seraphin would take over at the 7:45 mark as the Lakeview native went on a personal run of eight straight points as the Knights used an 8-3 run to take their biggest lead of the game of 19 points, 64-45 by the 6:20 mark.
But the Yellow Jackets would not go away without a fight as they used a 17-0 run from the 5:36 – 2:02 mark to cut a 19-point advantage down to two, 64-62.
After a Knights turnover at the 1:38 mark put the ball back into the Yellow Jackets' hands and with the visitors in a position to either tie the game or take the lead, Queens' defense would come big as AIC missed the go-head three-pointer before Ayala grabbed the defensive board.
With 53 seconds left, junior center
Omari Byrd (Ypsilanti, MI.) would get fouled and would go 2-of-2 at the free throw line to extend the Knights advantage back to a two-possession game of 66-62.
Over the final 45 seconds of the game, the Knights would hold the Yellow Jackets without a field goal before Chester sealed the game at the free throw for a 67-63 lead as Queens withstood the Yellow Jackets' second-half comeback attempt for their first victory of the year.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Seraphin led the Knights with a team-high 17 points (8-of-12 FG | 1-of-1 FT) to go with four rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
- Lindo recorded 10 points (5-of-11 FG) to go with five rebounds, two steals and one block.
- Ayala notched 10 points (2-of-4 FG | 6-of-6 FT) to go with four rebounds, while Tynes notched 10 points (4-of-8 FG | 2-of-6 3PT) off the bench.
- Off the bench, Chester recorded seven points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
- Tse notched six points, a team-high seven assists, and two assists.
- Byrd recorded six points and four rebounds.
- As a team Queens shot 25-of-61 from the field (41.0%), 4-of-16 from distance (25.0%), and 13-of-15 at the free line (86.7 %).
- The Knights forced 17 Yellow Jackets turnovers into 20 points.
NEXT TIP-OFF
The Knights hit the road to Wilmington, Del on Saturday, Nov. 23 as they match up against the Lightning of Goldey-Beacom College in non-conference play. 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), X (Formerly Twitter) (@QCKnights), Queens College MBB (@QCKnights_MBB) and Instagram (qcknightsny), men's basketball (qcmensbball).
