NCAA Division II tournament: Queens beats Augusta, returns to Elite 8
There would be no comeback this time. Shaun Willett saw to that.
Willett’s 33-point performance led top-seeded Queens over second seed Augusta 91-78 Tuesday night, giving the Royals their second straight NCAA Division II Southeast Regional championship.
The victory sends the Royals (31-4) to the Elite 8, set for March 27-30 in Evansville, Ind. Queens reached the national semifinals a year ago.
Augusta (28-6), the Peach Belt Conference champion, had come from behind in both the quarterfinals and semifinals, winning each time in overtime. But once Queens took a big lead midway in the second half, the Royals dominated the boards, overcame the Augusta press, and pulled away.
The first half was pretty much Queens against Augusta big man Deane Williams.
The Royals outrebounded Augusta 20-16 and had a plus-4 margin in turnovers. But Williams kept the Jaguars in the game, with his play at both ends of the floor.
A 6-foot-8 senior averaging 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds a game, Williams blocked seven Queens shots in the first half and disrupted the Royals’ inside game. At the other end of the floor, he scored a team-high 12 points.
Yet the Royals often raced down the floor ahead of Williams and outscored Augusta 26-14 in the paint.
Queens sprinted to several leads, including a 32-25 margin with 7:20 left in the half. But the Jaguars battled back each time.
A half with nine lead changes ended with Queens taking a 39-38 lead on a basket by Willett, who had 12 points and six rebounds by halftime.
The lead changed hands three times early in the second half, but a Willett dunk put Queens ahead to stay 49-48. A dunk by Willett at the 12:20 mark gave the Royals a 61-54 lead, and Queens continued to build the margin.
Back-to-back dunks by Kevion Blaylock and Jermaine Patterson built the lead to 67-56 with 10:05 left and forced Augusta coach Dip Metress to call a time out.
The lead reached 14 points with eight minutes left, Augusta cut the deficit to single digits, but Queens pulled away against in the closing two minutes at the foul line.
3 who mattered
Shaun Willett, Queens: Willett, the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, had game-high totals of 33 points and 13 rebounds.
Daniel Carr, Queens: Playing point guard much of the game, Carr scored 11 points and dished out seven assists.
Deane Williams, Augusta: A 6-8 senior, Williams scored 25 points, blocked nine shots, and grabbed eight rebounds.
Worth mentioning
▪ The all-tournament team consisted of Willett (most valuable player), Carr and Lewis Diankulu of Queens; and Williams and Rafael Monteiro of Augusta.
▪ Williams is more than an inside threat. Twice in the first 30 minutes Tuesday night, he stepped outside the circle and hit a 3-pointer.
▪ Two Charlotte-area players are on the Augusta roster – 6-4 sophomore Troy Cracknell of Lake Norman Charter; and 6-2 sophomore Jerod Carrier of Ardrey Kell. Both are reserves.
▪ Champions were crowned Tuesday night in all eight Division II regional tournaments. Seeds and schedules for the Elite 8 will be announced by the NCAA in the next few days.
This story was originally published March 19, 2019 at 9:19 PM.