The Queens NC Royals and the Liberty Flames meet Friday in college basketball action from Liberty Arena. This will be the second installment of a home-and-home pair of games to finish off the regular season. In the Wednesday matchup, Liberty managed an eight-point victory. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Queens NC Royals
Queens NC started out the year on a 14-8 stretch through 22 games. The Royals hit a rough 3-4 run in the next seven however, losing to Lipscomb, Eastern Kentucky, Bellarmine and Jacksonville State. The wins came over Stetson, Austin Peay and Kennesaw State otherwise.
Matched up against Liberty on Wednesday, Queens NC posted a 53-41 deficit in the second half in an eventual 85-77 loss. AJ McKee was the team leader with 17 points and Jay’Den Turner doubled up on 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Liberty Flames
Over on the Liberty side, they went a pretty solid 17-5 over their first 22 installments this year. The Flames posted a 5-2 run over the next seven with wins over FGCU, Austin Peay, Bellarmine, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State in that time.
In the Wednesday matchup versus the Royals, Liberty trailed 36-32 at halftime but managed to power out the win with a great second. Tops in scoring was Darius McGhee on 36 points with four rebounds, and Colin Porter added 13 points with four assists.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m probably going to stick with Liberty. The Flames didn’t start out so well in the Wednesday matchup, but to their credit they were able to get it going after halftime. Liberty has been on a great scoring run lately; they’ve hit 70 or more points in five straight games and 79 or more in four straight. Queens NC has hit 69 or more in six straight themselves, so this is probably going to be another fairly high-scoring rematch. I like Liberty better on the home cover, though.