Lions fall to No. 16 Queens

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's basketball team (7-9, 5-5 SAC) lost to No. 16 Queens (13-3, 8-2 SAC) by a score of 90-79 on the road.

The Lions carried a 12-10 over six minutes into the contest before Gavin Rains jumper tied the game with 13:57 to play in the first half.  The Lions retook the lead over a minute later off of a Jamal Bryant three-pointer.  With just over 10 minutes to play in the first half, Jermaine Patterson gave the Royals their first lead of the contest, hitting a jumper to put them up 19-18.  The basket was in the midst of a 12-0 run that put Queens up 26-18 with 6:32 left in the half.  The Royals maintained a six-point lead after 20 minutes of play.

Jamari Smith led all players with 10 points in the half while Javonte Cooke led the Lions with eight.

Queens opened the second half on an 8-0 run to go up by 14 with under two minutes played.  Following a Daniel Carr three-pointer with 5:58 played, Queens went up by as many as 21 points.  The Lions clawed back into the contest with under three minutes remaining, pulling within eight on several separate occasions.  

Carr led all players with 25 points and collected six rebounds.  Rains recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Cooke led the Lions with 20 points and seven rebounds.  Ja'Shawn Brooks recorded 15 while Austin Gilyard added 12 on the day.

The Lions return to action on Wednesday, January 22 when they host Lenoir-Rhyne at 7:30 p.m.