BUFFALO, N.Y. – Making their first appearance in the East Coast Conference semifinal game for the first time since the 2010-11 season the number three seed Queens College men's basketball team matched up against number two seed and defending champions St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans inside Lumsden Gymnasium.
Head coach
Matt Collier and his squad would go down fighting as they were led by four Knights scoring in double figures with senior guard
Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) recording 30 points, senior forward
Damiri Lindo (Oakland, CA.) 17 points, junior guard
Eric Tynes (Springfield, MA.) 16 points and senior guard
Nasan Ayala (LeFrak City, N.Y.) with 10 points as Queens fell to the final score of 91-82 Saturday evening.
GAME RECAP
Both sides began the game matching each other shot for shot with junior center
Omari Byrd (Ypsilanti, MI.) leading the way with four points as Queens trailed 7-6 by the under-16 media timeout.
Out of the timeout, the trio of Chester, Lindo, and Michel would continue to keep pace with the Spartans as neither side was able to build a lead larger than one point.
As a three-pointer from Tynes put the Knights up 22-19 with 9:30 to go, four quick points from the Spartans would see them take a 23-22 lead.
Led by two-made free throws from Ayala, the Knights start a 5-2 run to take a 27-25 advantage by the under-8 media timeout at the 7:38 mark.
But just as the Spartans tied the game at 27-27, Queens would end the final 6:24 of the first half on a 14-12 run to take a 41-39 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
Queens opened the second half on a strong note using a 12-6 run from the 19:35 mark to the 14:44 mark as they took an eight-point lead of 53-45 with Chester scoring five points in the run.
The Knight would continue to keep a lead intact before the Spartans got into a rhythm.
The number two Spartans would use a 20-4 run from the 9:08 mark to the 5:15 mark to take a 76-64 lead. The Knights would be held to 1-of-6 from the field while the Spartans went 7-of-8 to go with 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
By the 1:45 mark, the Knights would get within eight, 83-75, however, the Spartans would ice the game at the charity ice to end the Knights' season Saturday evening inside Lumsden Gymnasium.
BY THE NUMBERS
- For the second straight postseason game, Chester recorded 30 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with 13-of-15 from the charity stripe, two steals, two assists, and one rebound.
- Lindo recorded 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
- Tynes tallied 16 points, three rebounds, and one block.
- Ayala recorded 10 points, four rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist.
- Rookie guard Tyler Michel (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) tallied five points, three rebounds, one steal and one assist.
- Byrd recorded four points, 11 rebounds, one steal, and a team-high four blocks.
The Knights conclude the 2024-2025 season with an overall record of 13-17 and 8-8 in ECC play. Queens would earn the number three seed in the ECC postseason tournament and make their ECC first semifinal appearance since the 2010-2011 season.
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