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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 2 seed Queens Royals defeated No. 7 Columbus State Saturday by a score of 86-84 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Royals improve to 29-3 while the Cougars complete their season with a ledger of 20-11.
Queens was led by Jamari Smith’s game-high 24 points. He was automatic at the charity stripe, hitting all 15 attempts. Kenny Dye posted 15 points and had five assists while Josh Dilling netted 11 points. Jay’Den Turner narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards while Quan McCluney chipped in nine markers.
CSU was paced by Langston Gaither’s 21 points. Christian Chambers netted 19 points while Hunter Preston garnered a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards to go along with four steals before fouling out. Grant Howard and Devan Porter-Wilson each connected for 10 points.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the early going. Queens took a 21-16 lead and maintained a 24-20 edge before an 8-0 run by the designated home team gave the Royals a 28-24 advantage. CSU led 32-31 but an 11-0 spurt by the Royals made it 41-32. A dunk with one tick before halftime made it 48-39 in favor of Queens.
The Royals led 50-40 with 19:05 to play but the Cougars quickly pulled within two at 52-50. Queens stretched the margin to seven, 71-64, with 7:53 to go. However, CSU would battle back. After closing the gap to just two points on multiple occasions, a three-point shot from Gaither made it 81-80 in favor of Queens with 1:25 to play.
Leading 83-82 with 29 seconds to go, Smith hit two free throws. Gaither quickly made a lay-up with 15 seconds to go and CSU was forced to foul. After Queens hit one-of-two with two with 10 seconds left, the Cougars had a shot with three seconds remaining, but Gaither’s three-point attempt was no good, securing the win for the Royals.
For the game, Queens hit 27-of-62 from the field (43.5 percent). The squad canned 25-of-28 from the charity stripe (89.3 percent). The Cougars hit 32-of-72 from the floor (45.7 percent).
The Royals will face No. 3 Lincoln Memorial in the NCAA Southeast Region Semifinal tomorrow at 5 p.m.
