GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Mike Davis scored 23 points thanks to his six 3-pointers as the third-ranked Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team held on for an 83-79 South Atlantic Conference win at Tusculum College Saturday afternoon.
The Royals (16-0, 10-0 SAC) overcame their first halftime deficit of the season to maintain their three-game lead in the league standings. Tusculum (7-8, 4-6 SAC) suffers only its second home loss of the year at Pioneer Arena.
Trailing 50-48 at halftime, Queens went on a 13-4 run in the opening five minutes of the second half, including eight unanswered as the Royals led 61-54. Daniel Camps sparked the Queens' spurt with six of his 16 points during the run.
The Pioneers trimmed the deficit to 62-60 at the 13:29 mark thanks to a tip-in by senior Cory Fagan and a Brandon Dansoh rebound and put-back.
Queens responded with a 12-0 run over the next 4:49, capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from Davis as the Royals took their largest lead of the afternoon at 74-60 with 8:40 to go on the clock.
The Pioneers battled back and cut the deficit to six on two occasions, including 76-70 with 5:07 left as senior Vincent Brown orchestrated the run by scoring eight straight points with a pair of treys and two free throws. But the Royals answered with a pair of Jalin Alexander free throws and a dunk from Todd Withers as Queens pushed its advantage back to double-digits at 82-72 with 2:36 to go.
Tusculum made one final push scoring seven straight points including a lay-up and a three-pointer from Fagan and two free throws from freshman Trey Blevins with 11.9 seconds left as TC trailed 82-79.
Queens got the ball to Mike Davis as TC was forced to foul him with 7.2 seconds to go. Davis missed the first attempt, but made it a four-point game by making the second to seal the victory as the Royals avenge last February's double-overtime loss in their last trip to Greeneville.
It was a tale of two halves for the two teams. Both teams shot over 53 percent from the floor and got themselves to the free line as Queens went 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the stripe, while TC went 15-of-20 (75%) in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the defenses clamped down as Queens outscored Tusculum 35-29 in the period and limited the Pioneers to just 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the frame.
Queens edged the Pioneers in field goal shooting (42.6-42.1%), rebounding (40-33), bench scoring (26-20), points in the paint (32-24) and second chance points. The Pioneers held the advantage in points off turnovers (20-12) and fast-break points (12-9). Each team committed 17 turnovers in the game, as Queens recorded 20 assists on its 26 made field goals, while TC had 15 helpers on its 24 baskets.
The two teams were almost identical at the free throw line as well for the game as Tusculum went 23-of-29 for 79.3 percent, while Queens went 22-of-29 for 75.9 percent.
The Pioneers took a 13-8 lead in the early going as Patterson poured in seven of his game-high 24 points during the TC run. The Royals responded with a 9-3 spurt to take their first lead of the day at 17-16 following a three-point play from Camps and a pair of Davis trifectas.
With the TC trailing 20-18, Patterson got the lead back for the Pioneers with a three-pointer at the 12:41 mark. But on the play, Patterson was whistled for a technical foul for taunting the Queens' bench. Carr made both of his ensuing free throws as the Royals regained the advantage at 22-21.
The lead would bounce back and forth as Fagan canned a jumper with 8:52 on the clock to give Tusculum a 31-30 lead. The Royals fired back with an 8-1 spark, including an Alexander trey as Queens led 38-32 with 6:44 left before the intermission.
TC fired back with an 8-2 run as Patterson made one of two free throws to knot the game at 40-40 with 3:47 on the clock. The score would be tied two more times before halftime including 45-45 with 1:36 left.
Fagan connected on a clutch three-pointer and Patterson scored a lay-up and made two free throws as Tusculum took a 50-48 lead heading to the locker room.
Mike Davis finished the game shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including a sizzling 6-of-9 from three-point land and 3-of four at the charity stripe. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and recorded team-best three steals.
Patterson finished the game with three treys, shot 9-of-10 from the foul line and posted a game-high four steals as 18 of his 24 points came in the first half. Fagan poured in 23 points as he finished with three 3-pointers to extend his school-record streak to 31 consecutive games with a trifecta.
Brown's 10 markers were as season high as he finished 3-of-3 from the floor, including two treys and 2-of-2 at the free throw stripe. Zach Hartle added eight points and six rebounds, while Zach Davis and Chase Mounce each finished with six boards apiece.
Mounce becomes the eighth player in program history to eclipse 600 rebounds for a career (605). He was limited to four points but he moves up the TC scoring ladder as his 1,158 career points are 16th in school history, moving past Ray Christian (1,156, 1990-94).
Tusculum returns to action on Wednesday when they host defending NCAA Division II national runner-up Lincoln Memorial University for an 8 p.m. contest at Pioneer Arena.
