WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball couldn't outlast Queens University of Charlotte in the Sailfish home opener. In a game that saw 17 lead changes, regulation just wasn't enough to determine a winner as the game went into overtime before Queens pulled away and took the victory, 82-74.
The Sailfish (1-2) jumped out to an early 14-7 lead after scoring seven unanswered points with 13 minutes to go in the first half. After going back and forth,
Jules Jasmin threw down a monster dunk to put the 'Fish up six at the seven minutes remaining mark. After that the Royals (5-1) found their stroke and started to knock down shots to get back into the game. At the buzzer Van Turner Jr. was able to sink a deep three to give the Royals a half time lead of 32-31.
The second half saw both teams continue to battle as the Sailfish and the Royals were exchanging points. PBA's
De'Ondre Jackson connected from beyond the three with 13:09 left in regulation to extend the Sailfish lead by four. Later, a layup by Queen's Armoni Lee knotted the game at 54 with seven minutes remaining. The Royals were able to get out to a six point lead with only three minutes remaining before the Sailfish cut the lead to two with a
Matthew Johnson three ball from down town. With only five seconds left on the clock
Malek Barber sent in another three to tie the game up at 70. The Royals had a great look at a layup with time expiring but couldn't seal the deal sending the game to overtime.
Queens started out overtime on fire as they went four for five from the field and went out to a commanding eight point lead. The Royals held off PBA's attacks and the Sailfish were just not able to get back into the game going forward as Queens took the eight point victory.
Jasmin lead the 'Fish with 20 points and included eight rebounds, and two steals to his stats. Jackson and
Bakari Warthen were the next two leading scorers for PBA as Jackson finished with 14 and Warthen finished with 11. Warthen finished with six rebounds as well. The Sailfish shot 40.8% from the field and were 7-27 from the three point line. The Sailfish were able to put up 40 points in the paint and got 19 points off the bench.
The Sailfish will return to action on Monday Nov. 19 as the Jay McCormick Classic kicks off. PBA will go up against Young Harris on Monday night before taking on Bemidji State on the following night. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 pm.
