Queens was on the brink of an NCAA title game. Then, the Royals’ hopes caved in.

Queens University looked to be in good shape to advance to its first-ever national championship game, but the Royals let one get away against Northern State in Thursday night’s NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship semifinal game.

The Royals (32-4) looked to have this one covered on multiple occasions, but some monster shots down the stretch for Northern State propelled the Wolves (36-3) to the national championship game with a 105-99 double overtime nail-biter at the Sanford Pentagon.

This one should have never gotten to double overtime. The Royals led by five with just 27 seconds remaining in the first overtime, but they let the comfortable lead vanish. After NSU’s DJ Pollard was fouled on a 3-point attempt, he made the first two free throws, missed the third, and the Wolves got the rebound. Seconds later, Pollard was open in the corner, and he buried a 3-pointer to tie it at 89-89, sending this national semifinal game into double overtime.

Queens missed its first five shots in double overtime, and were never in it from that point.

The Royals were also up five with 1 minute, 20 seconds to play in regulation and let that lead get away as well. Up one with under 30 seconds to play, Queens’ Ike Agusi drove the lane and looked to have an easy layup, but Northern’s Logan Doyle got the block and was fouled when a scrum of players dove for the ball. He hit one of the free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining, forcing overtime.

The Wolves scored on their first five possessions in the first overtime, and looked to make it six to build on a two-point lead. But Carter Evans missed two free throws, the Royals rebounded and Agusi buried a 3-pointer seconds later, giving the Royals had their first lead in overtime at 84-83.

Agusi was just getting started. After an NSU turnover, Agusi got the ball, and again, he buried a deep 3-pointer, this time as the shot clock expired and the Royals had an 87-83 lead with 41 seconds to play.

Three who mattered

Ike Agusi: He scored 20 of his team-high 27 in the second half and buried two 3-pointers in the first overtime to keep the Royals in it.

Todd Withers: The Royals’ leading scorer was limited to just one point and fouled out with 4:08 left in the first overtime.

Ian Smith: The Wolves point guard entered the game averaging 12 points per game, but scored a team-high 22 points and added seven assists.

Observations

▪  When the Royals got out to an early 15-8 lead, it was the defense that was driving the run. At that time, Northern was just 2-of-9 from the field.

▪  The Queens defense was suffocating in the first half. The Royals forced 11 NSU turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but managed just two points off of them. The Wolves finished with 19 turnovers.

▪  After back-to-back 3-pointers from NSU’s Darin Peterka to open the second half, the game was tied at 37-all. It was the first tie since 5-5.

Worth mentioning

▪  Queens’ defense limited Northern to just 29 first-half points, its second-lowest first-half scoring output of the season.

▪  The Royals have never played in a national championship game. They last made it to the Final Four in 2003.

▪  The Sanford Pentagon is a quaint building that seats 3,250. It was packed with Northern State fans, who made the three-hour drive to Sioux Falls. The venue was deafening for most of the game.

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 1:12 AM with the headline "Queens was on the brink of an NCAA title game. Then, the Royals’ hopes caved in.."