CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Gavin Rains led four players in double figures with 15 points to go along with his 10 rebounds to lead 13th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte to an 85-59 South Atlantic Conference win over visiting Tusculum University Wednesday at the Levine Center.
Tusculum junior guard Trenton Gibson scored 14 points including the 1,000th of his career to become only the 28th player in the storied history of the Pioneer program to eclipse that personal mark.
Joining Rains in double figures were Kenny Dye (14), Jamari Smith (12) and AJ McKee (11) as the Royals (9-3, 7-2 SAC) bounced back from Monday's 71-66 road loss at Lenoir-Rhyne University snapping a six-game winning streak.
The Pioneers (6-4, 6-4 SAC) got 14 points from Joshua Scott and nine markers from Zack Dixon. The duo of Yan Kankela and Miguel Boskovic tallied six points apiece and Inady Legiste finished with five points in the loss.
Gibson went 5-of-12 from the floor and also hauled in a seven rebounds, dished out three assists and posted a steal in his 38 minutes on the floor. He eclipsed the 1,000-point mark with his jumper with five seconds remaining in the first half.
Queens used an 18-8 run in the first half to race to a 48-29 lead at the intermission as the Royals shot 16-of-35 from the floor including five 3-pointers and went 11-of-13 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. TU shot 8-of-27 (29.6%) from the field and 2-of-14 (14.3%) from beyond the arc.
Queens pushed the lead to as many as 32 points in the final half before setting for the 26-point victory.
The Royals finished the game shooting 28-of-58 from the field (48.3%) and 8-of-20 from three-point territory. The hosts also shot 21-of-29 from the free throw line for 72.9 percent. TU finished shooting 34.5 percent from the field (20-of-58) and 13-of-21 from the charity stripe (61.9%). Queens held a 43-33 advantage on the boards and forced Tusculum into 18 turnovers resulting into 21 points. The Royals finished with 14 turnovers which the Pioneers converted into 20 points for the visitors.
Gibson's 1,007 career points have him ranked 26th all-time in Tusculum history.
The Pioneers will be off this weekend before continuing their season-long four-game road trip when they visiting Anderson University next Wednesday night.
