Belmont Abbey freshman forward Darryl Durham led the Crusaders with a career-high 17 points on seven of ten shooting, but Queens received a game-high 32 points from Brent Evans and 20 from Reggie Hopkins as the Royals held on for an 87-82 win this evening at Ovens Gym. The two teams will meet again in Ovens Gym Monday night at 7:00 p.m. in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament.

Durham came off the bench to score 17 points and grab nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Kyle Phillips added 16 points on six of ten shooting with five rebounds and senior guard Richard Barbee added 14. Barbee is now 15 points away from 2,000 for his career. Tyshawn Good posted 12 points and Terrone Sheffey chipped in with ten. The Crusaders shot 42.9 percent (30-70) from the floor.

Evans led all scorers with 32 points on 14-17 shooting from the floor to go along with 11 rebounds and five blocked shots in 30 minutes. Hopkins added 20 on four of 12 shooting but sank 12 of 15 from the charity stripe. Antonio Stabler added 13 and Daniel Bailey chipped in with ten as the Royals shot 52.5 percent (31-59) from the floor.

Queens held the lead for most of the first half until an 11-2 Abbey run wiped out a seven point Queens lead to push it on top 18-16 with 12:53 to go in the half. The Royals countered by scoring six of the next eight points to regain their advantage, but a three-pointer by Barbee, followed by another layup, vaulted the Crusaders back on top by three, 25-22, with 7:26 to go. The Abbey held that lead for the next minute before Queens closed the half on a 15-7 run to hold a 39-34 lead at the half.

The second half was a deadlock as both teams scored 48 points, but the Crusaders never regained the lead again. Trailing 52-42, an 8-2 run would chop the lead down to four at 54-50 with 11:37 to go.

Queens pushed the lead back to seven, but layups from Good and Durham sliced the lead down to three. Queens would develop breathing room, widening the gap to ten points at 81-71 with 3:34 to go. Mounting one last charge, the Crusaders scored the next five points in the next 1:07 to close within five points at 81-76 with 1:45 left, and a jumper from Durham after a Queens free throw pulled the Crusaders to within four at 82-78 with 88 seconds to play. Queens responded by scoring five of the last nine points, all from the free throw line, to seal the win.