KINGSTON, Ont. (January 31, 2014) - The Queen's men's basketball team (8-9) took down the Algoma Thunderbirds (4-13) 90-85 tonight at the ARC in OUA men's basketball action.
 
The Gaels were coming out looking to redeem their road loss against the Thunderbirds only a few weeks ago. The first quarter ended with Algoma leading 21-20. The Gaels were struggling to find a rhythm, committing seven turnovers to Algoma's three.
 
The second quarter was an exciting one to say the least. Two technical fouls were called against the visitors as things got heated between the Gaels and Thunderbirds. Mackenzie Simpson (Ottawa) knocked down all four of the free-throws awarded to Queen's on the penalties. Although there were a few lapses in communication on the offensive end at the end of the second, the Gaels went into the half leading Algoma 48-37.
 
The second half of the game was truly a game of runs. The Gaels led by 19 at one point, but the Thunderbirds kept fighting back and narrowing the point margin to within five points in the fourth. Both teams spent a lot of time at the free-throw line and they truly made them count. The Gaels went 28 for 32 from the charity stripe and the Thunderbirds hit 17 of 20.
 
Patrick Street (Etobicoke, Ont.) was the player of the night hitting loud three-pointers to keep the momentum rolling for Queen's. Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) also contributed 19 points for the Gaels, followed by 16 points by Nikola Misljencevic (Ottawa). The leading scorers for Algoma were Jimmy Belinga with 18 and Reynaldo Carnakie with 16.
 
Queen's is back on the court tomorrow night at 8pm against the Laurentian Voyageurs (10-6).