February 25, 2006

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, NC—The Queens University of Charlotte men’s basketball team barely snapped St. Andrews seven-game home win streak with a 72-71 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference victory during Saturday’s ‘Senior Day’ at Harris Court.

The Royals finish the regular season with an 18-9 overall and 12-8 CVAC record while the Knights finish at 12-15 and 9-11.

Depending on tonight’s games, St. Andrews will enter the 2006 CVAC tournament as either the No. 6 or 7 seed and will host either Anderson or Lees-McRae on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Queens will enter the tournament as a No. 4 or 5 seed and will get a first-round bye.

Senior Chad Eichelberger (Austell, GA), who was honored before the game by first year head coach Billy Lee, sparked a 14-4 run over the first five minutes of the contest with an opening dunk, three rebounds, a block, and a long jumper.

Queens erased the Knights 10-point lead and tied everything at 21-21 on a senior Esau Eatman (Durham, NC) layup at 8:40. However, St. Andrews regrouped and took a slim 35-33 advantage into the locker rooms. SAPC held the two-point lead at halftime by shooting 14-for-23 (60.9%) from the field.

The Knights maintained a single-digit lead for the first 14 minutes of the second stanza. A sophomore Jeff Worley (Charlotte, NC) layup extended the SAPC lead to seven, 52-45, with 10 minutes left but QUC rallied with an 11-3 run over the next five minutes. Senior Kendrick Harris (Greenville, NC) capped the run with a trey to give the Royals their first lead of the game, 56-55, with 5:30 showing on the clock.

Queens continued the rally and held a somewhat comfortable five-point lead (70-65) with 18 ticks to go. Junior Richard Stone (Williamsburg, VA) kept the Knights hopes alive with a three-pointer with four seconds left. After an immediate foul, senior Timon Farley (Charlotte, NC) drilled both ends of a one-and-one to double Queens’ lead to four. As a two possession game, the Royals allowed sophomore Taiwon Grooms (Landover, MD) to hit a three as time expired without fouling to cut the final margin to 72-71.

Harris and Eatman each posted a double-double for Queens. Harris had 23 points while Eatman finished with 21. Both players had 10 boards. Farley added 12 points.

Eichelberger made the best of his senior day with 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Joseph Gripper (Charlotte, NC) led the Knights with 16 points while Grooms chipped in with 13 points. Grooms also dished out five assists and grabbed five boards. Stone bucketed 12 points including three from downtown.

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