The Queens University Royals (8-14, ASUN 2-5) bested the UCA men’s basketball team (8-15, ASUN 4-3) with a final score of 96-79, resulting in the Bears’ third ASUN Conference loss of the season.
“We thought we had a pretty good scheme, what we wanted to do defensively. But we just didn’t have the effort we needed to have on the defensive end,” coach Anthony Boone said to UCA Sports.
The Royals attempted their first shot of the night with a jumper from junior forward Jaxon Pollard but failed to capitalize.
It took three more attempts from the Royals until a 3-pointer was finally made by junior guard Deyton Albury a little over a minute and a half into the game. Albury made a total of 18 points by the end of the game only behind teammate junior guard AJ McKee at 28 points.
UCA senior guard Masai Olowokere took the Bears’ first shot of the night, a 3-pointer, but failed to make it in the basket.
44 seconds later, Pollard scored Queens University’s second 3-pointer of the night, giving the Royals a 6-point lead on the Bears.
“It was really unfortunate that we got off to such a slow start,” Boone said to UCA Sports.
30 seconds later, the Bears finally made their first basket of the night with a jump shot from sophomore guard Carl Daughtery Jr.
After UCA closed the gap by 2 points, McKee scored the Royals their third 3-pointer of the night.
The ball bounced across the court for over a minute until the Bears were able to add a point to the scoreboard with a successful free throw from Daughtery Jr., making the score 9-3, Royals ahead.
Nearly six minutes into the first half, the Royals grabbed yet another successful 3-pointer from sophomore guard/forward Jacobi Sebock.
Olowokere responded with a layup in the paint, but the Royals quickly answered back with a fastbreak 3-pointer from junior guard Chris Ashby.
While UCA junior guard/forward Ibbe Klintman was able to score with a layup and UCA graduate student guard Daniel Sofield picked up two free throws, it wasn’t enough to stop McKee who scored a layup and two jump shots in just under two minutes putting the score at 21-9, Royals? ahead.
Freshman guard Logan Threatt was able to give the Royals a 14-point lead soon after.
In a turn-of-events junior guard/forward Elias Cato, freshman forward Tucker Anderson and Sofield were able to rack up enough baskets to close the gap by 8 points, but the resurgence didn’t last long.
With a little over four minutes remaining in the first half, Ashby scored the Royals two back-to-back 3-pointers.
UCA ended the first half with two free throws by freshman guard Javion Guy-King, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to Queens University, ending the half at 51-34.
“Just too many big stretches of the game that our defense just really let us down, and that was really disappointing,” Boone said to UCA Sports.
In between halves, UCA seemed to have found a new source of energy, as the second half was more successful for the Bears.
Anderson began the second half with a fastbreak 3-pointer, giving the Bears an upper hand that didn’t last long, as within forty seconds Royals players Pollard, McKee and freshman guard/forward Bryce Cash each scored a layup, adding 6 points for Queens University.
The Royals picked up a free throw and a layup before the Bears scored for the second time during the half with a jump shot by Daughtery Jr., Anderson following up with a fast break dunk.
Queens University continued to hover around a 20-plus point lead until Cato landed the Bears a 3-pointer, giving the Royals an 18-point lead with a score of 50-68.
Over the next two and a half minutes the Bears scored a 10-point streak, now giving the Royals a 10-point lead with nearly 10 minutes left in the game.
With nine minutes and 33 seconds remaining, the Bears managed to score three more layups, putting UCA only 5 points behind Queens University.
“The guys were just a little bit more intent [in the second half] and had a little bit better effort and really focused more,” Boone said to UCA Sports.
The Royals responded nearly a minute later with four free throws and a layup by McKee, pushing the score difference back up to 11 points.
Although the Bears’ offense continued to score point after point, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Royals as the point difference continued to grow.
The game ended with a jump shot from Royals’ freshman guard Kobe George, setting the final score at 96-79.
“The guys made a great push in the second half there, and if we had had that kind of intensity from the beginning, it would have been a different game,” Boone said to UCA Sports.
The Bears’ next game will have them pitted against the talons of Florida Gulf Coast University at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Farris Center.