ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Looking to conclude their two-game road stand on a strong note, the Queens College men's basketball team traveled to Rochester for an East Coast Conference matchup against the Roberts Wesleyan University Redhawks inside the Voller Athletic Center.
As a team the Knights combined to shoot 55% from the field with four players leading the charge with senior guard
Nasan Ayala (LeFrak City, N.Y.) (22 points), senior forward
Damiri Lindo (Oakland, CA) (22 points)
, senior guard
Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) (17 points) and junior forward
Jaden Pena (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (16 points) combining for 77 points as Queens earned a 94-86 victory over the Redhawks Friday evening.
With the victory, Queens earns their fourth overall record of the year and improves to 2-0 in ECC play. For the first time since the 2016-2017 season the Knights have opened ECC play with a record of 2-0. With their victory Friday inside the Voller Athletic Center Queens earned their first road victory over the Redhawks since the 2019-2020 season when the Knights earned an 87-84 overtime victory on January 12, 2020.
GAME RECAP
The Redhawks opened the game with a quick 6-2 lead before Queens quickly found their rhythm to trade buckets. With the Knights trailing 6-5 at the 16:43 mark a jumper from rookie guard
Sekou Kourouma (Manhattan, N.Y.) at the 15:46 mark would start an 8-0 run as the Knights took a 13-10 lead by the 14:13 mark.
However, both teams would continue to match each other bucket for bucket as the first half saw the score tied six times to go with 11 lead changes.
With the score tied at 20-20 at the 10:39 mark, a layup from Alaya would put Queens up 22-20 at 9:47 before the Redhawks went on an 8-0 run to take a 28-22 lead by the 8:55 mark.
Trailing by six, 28-22, Pena would lead the comeback at the 8:31 mark as Queens answered with an 11-4 run to take a slim lead of 33-32 by the 3:47 mark.
The Redhawks would reclaim their last lead of the first half at the 3:37 mark with a three-pointer before Chester responded with back-to-back three-pointers of his own to help Queens take a 39-33 lead.
Roberts Wesleyan would cut Queens' advantage down to one, 39-38 by the 2:01 mark before Pena and Lindo helped the Knights take a six-point edge of 44-38 with 30 seconds to go in the first half.
However back to back-to-back fouls by the Knights in the final 10 seconds of the first half would see the Redhawks cut the visitors' advantage down to two points, 44-42 as Queens took a slim lead of two points into the locker rooms at halftime.
Leading by two points to begin the second half, the trio of Lindo, Pena, and Ayala would help Queens begin the second half of play on an 8-1 run as Queens took the largest lead of the game of nine points, 52-43 by the 16:30 mark.
But the Redhawks would not go away quietly as they started to chip away into the visitors' advantage as they cut a nine-point lead down to two points, 57-55 by the 13:07 mark.
Just as the Redhawks put together a 12-5 run, Ayala would lead the charge as Queens responded with an 11-2 run from the 12:21 mark to the 11:17 mark to extend their lead back to nine points, 68-59.
With the Redhawks finding timely buckets to cut into the Knights' lead, free throw shooting would help Queens keep a slim lead intact.
As the Redhawks brought the scoreline down to 73-72 at the 6:23 mark, Lindo and rookie
Tyler Michel (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) would tally back-to-back buckets to extend Queens' advantage back to five points, 77-72 by the 5:50 mark.
But the home team answered with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 77-77 at the 4:56 mark, the first tie since the 3:47 mark of the first half.
But the tie would be short-lived as Queens responded right away with a 13-4 run from the 4:48 mark to the 1:30 mark as the Knights converted seven free throws to go with four points from junior center
Omari Byrd (Ypsilanti, MI) as they extended their lead to nine points, 90-81 and held the Redhawks to 2-of-5 from the field and forced two turnovers.
The Redhawks would cut Queens' lead down to four points, 90-86 but the senior duo of Ayala and Lindo would ice the game at the free throw line as Queens earned a thrilling 94-86 victory over the Redhawks and improved to 2-0 in conference play.
BY THE NUMBERS
- For the third straight game, Ayala tallied 20+ points as the LeFrak City native recorded 22 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and three assists.
- For the third straight game, the senior tied a career-high seven made field goals and eight made free throws.
- In Knights uniform, Lindo recorded a career-best 22 points with a career-best nine made free throws to go with two steals and two rebounds.
- Chester recorded 17 points, two steals, two rebounds, and a season-best five assists off the bench.
- Pena recorded his second straight double-double in ECC play with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
- Byrd recorded eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field to go with eight rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
- As a team, the Knights shot a season-best 55% from the field and held a 41-28 rebounding margin.
NEXT TIP-OFF
The Knights return to Flushing on Tuesday, Dec. 17 as they welcome the Greyhounds of Assumption University in non-conference play. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m.
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