EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Queens University surrendered a run of 13 unanswered points midway through the first half and never recovered in an 87-74 loss to Point Loma in the NCAA Division II men’s basketball Elite Eight.
The third-seeded Royals got 27 points and 11 rebounds from All-American guard Shaun Willett, but were done in by a cold shooting performance that saw them make only five of their 23 attempts from 3-point range.
The sixth-seeded Sea Lions, meanwhile, made nine treys and shot 54.1 percent from the floor to earn a national semifinal date with Southern Indiana. Two of those 3-pointers came during the decisive first half spurt that saw Point Loma (30-4) turn a 14-14 tie into a 27-14 lead.
Queens (31-5) battled back early in the second half, narrowing the gap to as few as two, the last time coming at 59-57 on a basket by Jermaine Patterson with 9:02 remaining. But Point Loma responded with a 10-2 run and was never seriously challenged again.
Daniel Carr added 11 points for the Royals, who were making their second consecutive Elite Eight appearance. Lewis Diankulu and Kenny Dye had 10 points each.
Preston Beverly and Daulton Hommes led Point Loma with 22 points each.