ST. AUGUSTINE – Flagler College used an 18-2 run with less than seven minutes remaining to tie the game at 77, but just fell short in the end 81-77 in its season opener against Queens University of Charlotte in the Peach Belt Conference-South Atlantic Conference Challenge Saturday night at Flagler Gymnasium.
Flagler will take on Anderson University, an 81-69 winner in the first game of the classic format tournament over Armstrong State University. That game will tip at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Nov. 15). Queens will take on Armstrong in the first game of the doubleheader at 4 p.m.
The Saints trailed by as many as 24 points (64-40) with 14:56 left in the game, but answered emphatically with a 37-13 run over the next 13:58 to tie the game. Flagler's
Kessler Bell sank a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to knot the game at 77. With 18 seconds left,
Vaughn McCall fouled Queens' Rob Lewis behind the 3-point arc and he sank two of the three free throws to give the Royals the lead. A Flagler turnover with seven seconds left gave the ball back to Queens and the Saints fouled Kendall Jones who made both free throws to put the game away.
The game was marred by 49 fouls called and an altercation in front of the Flagler bench, with 1:59 left to go in the game, between players which forced the ejection of two players - one from Queens and the other from Flagler.
Lewis led all scorers with 30 points for the Royals. He made 8-of-13 from the floor and sank 12-of-15 from the free throw line. Jones added 11 more points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Sean Morgan added 10 points, all in the first half.
The Royals shot a blistering 64% (16-25) in the first half and shot 84.2% (16-19) from the free throw line. Queens led at the half 51-34.
Matt Clark deposited a team-high 25 points for the Saints, with 18 of those coming in the second half. He also tallied a game-high five assists.
Nick Grier added 14 points while
Keith Gray chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds. McCall contributed 10 points and dished out four assists.
Flagler shot 55.2% (16-29) in the second half and held Queens to 33.3% (8-24) from the field in the second half.
