Share
Queens senior guard Andre Lockhart says he's getting a familiar vibe about the Royals' still-young basketball season.
"We're used to winning here, and I've got a good feeling about this group of guys," he said after scoring 16 points in Queens' 91-84 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday night in the Queens Tip-Off Classic at Ovens Gym.
Lockhart missed last year's 7-21 Royals season with an injury, but played on NCAA tournament teams in his first two years at Queens.
"Those teams had confidence and I think this team can have it at the same level," said Lockhart, who helped his team recover from losing a 16-point lead and improve its record to 2-0. "I think they missed having senior leadership last year, and that's what I'm here for. But I hope we don't have too many more of these close games."
Junior guard Reggie Hopkins scored a game-high 27 points for the Royals, who trailed the Bears (0-2) for the only time in the game at 78-76 after D.J. Blackmon's jump shot with 2 minutes and 16 seconds to play.
But Queens responded with rainbow three-pointers on the next three possessions, two by Hopkins and one by freshman Brandon Nichols, who finished with 17 points, to put the game away.
"One thing we do pretty well is shoot," Royals coach Wes Long said. "I don't want us to rely on the jump shot - we also got into the paint and went to the free-throw line. We were solid down the stretch."
They were from the start, too, jumping out to a 26-10 lead before settling in to a 43-35 advantage at halftime.
The Bears, the South Atlantic Conference regular season champion last season, rallied behind Blackmon, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and senior guard Marcus Hodges, who had 21 points. His go-ahead jump shot finished an 8-0 run.
"I knew the big lead wouldn't last because they're too good a team," Long said.
