January 25, 2007

Boxscore

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Junior Taiwon Grooms (Landover, Md.) scored a game-high 25 points for visiting St. Andrews Presbyterian College, but host Queens University of Charlotte picked up the 78-64 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference men’s basketball victory on Thursday night in ‘The Oven’.

The Royals, ranked No. 7 in the current NCAA Division II East Region, shot 48.3% (29-for-60) from the field to pull out their third straight conference victory to improve to 12-5 overall and 8-2 in the CVAC. The Knights, who were out rebounded 39-31 and committed more turnovers 15-12, saw their four-game win streak snapped falling to 7-10 overall and 4-6 in the league.

While Queens led for most of the first half, St. Andrews kept things close. The Knights never allowed the Royals to pull out to more than a six-point advantage in the opening frame and a senior Richard Stone (Williamsburg, Va.) three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the half pulled SAPC to within one. However, QUC scored on their final possession of the half to hold a slim 32-29 lead at halftime.

The Knights kept battling and a Grooms jumper with 14:06 showing on the clock gave the visitors a 42-41 lead. The Royals responded with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to pull ahead 52-42 and take control of the game. St. Andrews got to within three, 52-49, with nine minutes left but Queens slowly pulled away regaining a double-digit lead with four minutes left, 65-55. The Royals maintained control and posted the 14-point victory.

Queens connected for five 3-pointers in the second half while SAPC shot 40.4% (23-for-57) for the game.

Grooms led all scorers with 25 points. Stone and sophomore Keith Josey (Suffolk, Va.) followed for the Knights with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Josey also had team-highs of six rebounds and three assists.

Chris Jones led the Royals offensively with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Jones completed the double-double with a game-high 12 boards. John Thompson just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Darnell Evans bucketed 16 points and Patrick Fox added 10 points. Akeem Miskdeen supplied a game-high seven assists.

St. Andrews will entertain CVAC foe Anderson University on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.