Queens Holds Off Men's Basketball

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team fell just short of completing a second half rally against Queens in Stanford Arena, falling 71-68 to the Royals in South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday. Queens improves to 7-5 overall and 4-2 in the league while Mars Hill falls to 7-5 on the season and 2-4 in league play.

Patrick Monroe led Mars Hill with 17 points, followed by 14 points each from Isaiah Cuthbertson and Michael Carson. Cuthbertson led the Lions on the glass with eight rebounds. Valentine Bauer had a game-high eight assists, while Thomas Anderson had five assists.

Queens was led by 17 points from Sean Morgan, followed by Rob Lewis with 16 points and Marquis Rankin with 10 points. Morgan had a double-double as he pulled down 11 rebounds.

Mars Hill took a 6-2 lead before the Royals tied the score at eight following a Jacarl Owens layup with 13:30 to play in the half. The teams remained within two point of each other before the Royals took a 21-17 lead with 7:01 remaining. Kendall Jones sank a 3-pointer with 2:30 remaining to give the Royals a 26-21 lead. With five seconds remaining, Lewis was fouled and made the first of two free throws. After Lewis missed the second free throw, Brandon Watkins pulled down the rebound and made the long pass to Kevin Haynes, who sank a layup just before the buzzer for a 30-28 Queens advantage at halftime.

Watkins gave the Lions a 32-30 lead following a jumper with 17:18 to play. After two ties and four lead changes, Rankin gave the Royals a 42-39 lead following a 3-pointer with 13:14 remaining. The Royals went on a 13-5 run to take a game-high 11 point lead, 55-44, with 8:12 to play. A Carson layup followed by a pair of free throws after a technical foul against the Queens bench cut the Lion deficit to 58-53 with just under five minutes to play. The Lions continued their rally as Cuthbertson and Carson scored on consecutive possessions to pull within a point, 58-57, with 3:48 remaining. Queens answered with a 7-2 run for a 65-59 lead with 1:37 remaining before Anderson brought the Lions to within three, 65-62, with 88 seconds to play.

With 37 seconds left, Lewis sank a jumper to extend the Royals lead to five points, 67-62. On the next Mars Hill possession, Cuthbertson was fouled and sank one of two free throws for a 67-63 Royals advantage. Rankin extended the Queens lead to six on their next possession before Cutbhertson completed the old fashioned three point play for a 69-66 Queens lead with nine seconds remaining. Trey Ervin made a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining for a 71-66 Queens lead before Cuthbertson tipped in a Carson miss just before the buzzer for the game's final score.

Mars Hill outshot Queens 42.2 percent to 41 percent, but the Royals were 12-for-14 (85.7 percent) from behind the free throw line compared to eight-for-11 (72.7 percent) for the Lions. Queens held a 37.5 percent to 22.2 percent advantage from behind the 3-point line and outrebounded Mars Hill 42-36. The Mars Hill reserves outscored the Queens bench 29-19.

Mars Hill hosts Carson-Newman on Wednesday at 8 p.m.