CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Taking on one of the best teams in the nation, Clayton State (0-1, 0-0 PBC) hung with No. 2 Queens (3-0, 0-0 SAC) for a half before falling 87-67 in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, November 15.
 
Senior forward Denzel Council (Macon, Ga.) led the way with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 7-of-9 performance at the foul line to go along with five boards and a pair of assists. He was joined by redshirt junior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) and redshirt-junior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) with nine points apiece.
 
Senior guard Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) finished with six points and five assists in 17 minutes and junior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) and junior forward Jamil McKee (Greenville, Ga.) notched eight and seven points, respectively.
 
An evenly matched contest at the outset, the lead would change hands five times and the teams deadlocked three times before the Royals settled on a narrow 15-14 lead at the 14:50 mark. A 6-0 burst would make it 21-14 just over two minutes later before Clayton State responded with seven straight points to even the score at 21-21 with 11 minutes on the clock.
 
It would continue to be a back-and-forth affair as QUC pulled back ahead with five straight points and the Lakers answered with five of their own to tie it at 29-29. From there, however, the Royals would use a 19-7 run to close the half and head to the break with a 48-36 advantage.
 
That would be a trend that would continue in the second half, however, as Queens scored 18 of the first 24 points to make it an overall run of 37-13 and extend to a commanding 66-42 by the 13:47 mark. Clayton State would get to within 15 points, 73-58, with 8:40 to play but no closer as the Royals closed out the 87-67 victory.
 
Mike Davis led Queens with a game-high 21 points, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, to go with seven boards, two blocks and a pair of steals. Todd Withers put up 16 points and hauled in nine rebounds while Ike Agusi added 13 points and four assists. Jalin Alexander chipped in with 12 points and Darryl White had four points, five caroms and four assists in 14 minutes.
 
The Lakers are back in action when they head to LeMoyne-Owen for a non-conference contest on Monday, November 20. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. (EST).