KINGSTON, Ont. (August 16, 2016) – Tuesday evening marked the start of the preseason for the men's basketball team, beating the Morgan State Bears 76-74 at the ARC.
Morgan State is a Division I school that plays in the Mid-East Athletic Conference of the NCAA. The Bears finished last year at 6-11 in the regular season and lost in the quarterfinals of the MEAC tournament.
GAME FLOW
Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) helped Queen's erase a four point deficit after the first quarter, scoring from beyond the arc three times in the second frame. Singh also excited the crowd on a fast break, dribbling the ball through his defender's legs on his way up the court.
At halftime, the Gaels led Morgan State 36-28.
Tanner Graham (Kingston, Ont.) scored a game-high 13 points in the first half for Queen's. Singh was close behind his Gaels teammate with 12 points in the opening half, and added seven rebounds to his stat line.
Tiwian Kendley and Isiah Graves netted seven points apiece in the first 20 minutes for the Bears.
Singh couldn't miss in the first five minutes of the third quarter, scoring 10 more points en route to a 59-44 Gaels lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Morgan State wouldn't let the Gaels run away with it in the final frame, narrowing the gap to 72-69 with 42.9 seconds on the clock. Down five points with under 10 seconds left, Graves ran the length of the floor to hit a three-pointer and bring the score to 76-74. Queen's killed the ball for the remaining five seconds to earn the victory with a two point margin.
Singh finished with a game-high 28 points, while Tanner worked his way to a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Vincent Wood (Toronto) went 4-5 from the three-point line for his 12 points.
David Syfax had a double-double for Morgan State on 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Graves closed out the game with a team-high 18 points for the Bears.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 – The Gaels are 1-0 vs. NCAA opponents this preseason
2 – Rookie Henry Van Herk threw down a two-handed dunk in transition for the tricolour
16 – Queen's made 16 three pointers in the win
UP NEXT
The men's basketball team hosts Northwood University, an NCAA Division II school, on Wednesday, September 24, at 1:30 pm. Entry is FREE.
