Big opponent brings end of line for Queens’ title hopes
Queens’ national championship basketball hopes were swallowed up by a taller opponent Wednesday night, and the Royals absorbed an 87-74 loss to Point Loma in the NCAA Division II men’s quarterfinals.
The Royals (31-5), the tournament’s third seed, were among three higher seeds to lose in the opening day of the championships at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
Queens fell in a big hole in the first half, nearly battled all the way back, but ran out of gas against the sixth-seeded Sea Lions (30-4), making their first appearance in the Elite Eight.
Daulton Hommes, a 6-foot-8 guard who leads Point Loma in scoring and rebounding, had 22 points and seven rebounds and seemed to make a basket every time Queens threatened.
Meanwhile, Queens all-America senior forward Shaun Willett closed his career with the Royals with 27 points and 11 rebounds. It was his 27th double-double of the season – the most in NCAA basketball.
Queens tied the game at 14-14 on a Kevion Blaylock layup with 14:38 left in the first half, but the Sea Lions went on an 11-0 run. Point Loma, the No. 6 rebounding team in Division II, grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the game’s first 10 minutes.
Queens trailed 40-29 at halftime, after being out-rebounded 21-14. The Royals’ offense seemed thrown off-balance by the bigger opponent.
The Royals made a run in the second half and closed the deficit to 59-57 on two Lewis Diankulu free throws with 9:49 to play. But Hommes put the Sea Lions on his back, hitting a three-pointer and then scoring on a dunk that made it 64-57 and forced Queens coach Bart Lundy to call a time out.
Queens was still within 64-59 with about seven minutes remaining, but the Royals went into a five-minute scoring drought. By the time that ended, Point Loma led by 11 points and was never threatened again.
3 who mattered
Shaun Willett, Queens: Playing his final game with the Royals, Willett led the second-half surge that nearly put Queens back on top.
Daulton Hommes, Point Loma: Hommes, a transfer from Western Washington, made several baskets at key times in the second half.
Preston Beverly, Point Loma: Beverly, a forward, finished with 22 points and six rebounds.
Worth mentioning
▪ In other quarterfinal games, top-seeded Northwest Missouri State (36-0) survived an upset bid by eighth seed Mercyhurst, winning 55-51. Fifth seed Saint Anselm’s downed No. 4 Nova Southeastern 91-81, and seventh seed Southern Indiana beat No. 2 West Texas A&M 94-84.
▪ Queens-Point Loma was the second game of the evening doubleheader. The first game, featuring home team Southern Indiana, drew a crowd of 7,330. That’s the most for any Division II quarterfinal or semifinal session. The D-II record is 7,763, set in the title game in 2013 in Atlanta.
▪ Queens is among the nation’s best 3-point shooting teams but has struggled when those shots didn’t fall this season. The Royals hit only 5-of-23 from 3-point range Wednesday night.
▪ Queens guard Daniel Carr reached the 1,000-point mark in his career. He is a junior. Willett and Diankulu are the only seniors on the Queens roster.