DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Opening a two-game road stand the senior trio of guard
Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.), center
Omar Nkonde (Harlem, N.Y.) and forward
Damiri Lindo (Oakland, CA.) paced the Queens College men's basketball team offense as they combined for 45 points against the Mercy University Mavericks in East Coast Conference play Wednesday evening.
But it would be a tale of two halves for the visitors as the Knights were stunned by the Mavericks who completed a 21-point comeback victory to the final score of 64-62 inside the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
With the loss, the Knights move 7-10 overall and 3-2 in conference action.
GAME RECAP
The Mavericks opened the game with a 5-2 lead before the Knights put together a 17-0 run to take a 19-5 by the 12:18 mark.
It would be a balanced scoring effort for the Knights as they continued to keep their double-digit intact for the first 20 minutes of play as eight different players found themselves in the scoring book including a 7-of-10 shooting from Nkonde to tally 15 points and 3-of-3 shooting from deep from Chester to tally nine points as Queens took a 45-24 into halftime.
Entering the second half Chester was three points away from entering the 1,000 points club, but on a night where a personal career milestone was achieved, the Knight would be on the opposite end of a victory.
The Mavericks opened the second half on a 6-0 run before a jumper from junior guard
Jade Tse (Queens, N.Y.) got Queens on the scoreboard at the 15:49 mark to extend the lead back to 16, 47-31.
As the Knights committed three turnovers, the Mavericks would together 12-2 run to get within six, 49-43 with 12:42 left in the contest.
At the 12:04 mark, Chester's fourth three-pointer of the game would not only break a scoreless drought for the Knights, but it would enter the Queens native into the program record book as he totaled the 1000 points of his career in his 93
rd career game.
As a layup from Chester at the 11:06 mark extended Queens' lead to 11 points, 54-43, Mercy responded with an 8-0 run to get within three, 54-51 with 8:39 left in the contest.
With Queens struggling from the field, the Mavericks would tie the game at 57-57 with 5:40 left.
Just as Chester's fifth three-pointer of the night extended Queens' lead back to three, 60-57 with 5:01 left in the game, the Maverick would complete the comeback with a 7-2 run to take the first meeting of the year.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Chester led the Knights' offense with a team-high 17 points with five made three-pointers, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
- Chester is the 18th player in program history to score 1000 points or more and is the second Knight under head coach Matt Collier to tally 1000 points.
- Nkonde recorded a career-best 17 points with five rebounds, and four blocks.
- Lindo tallied 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the contest.
NEXT TIP-OFF
Queens concludes the road stand with a trip to Sparkill, N.Y. on Saturday, Jan. 18 as they match up against defending ECC Champions Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. The Spartans enter the week with an overall record of 12-6 and 4-2 in ECC play and are coming off a 113-76 victory over Molloy University on Wednesday evening.
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