Diamond and Carey Star as Men’s Basketball Defeats Adelphi 79-72 in Season Opener

FLUSHING, N.Y. – Opening the 2022-2023 season inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium sophomore Sunnie Diamond (Hiram, GA) and senior Tyler Carey (Bayshore, N.Y.) began the season on a high note as the duo combined for 31 points to help lead the Queens College men's basketball team to a 79-72 non-conference victory over the visiting Panthers of Adelphi University Friday evening in the ECC/NE10 Conference Challenge. 
 
Diamond spectacularly made his Knights debut as the sophomore guard stuffed the stats sheet with 16 points (5-8 FG), to go with four rebounds, three blocks, and two steals, while center Carey notched the Knights' first double-double of the season with 16 points (7-13 FG) and a match-high 11 rebounds. 
 
The guard duo of sophomore Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) and senior William Ellis (Valley Stream, N.Y.) combined for 29 points with Chester matching Diamond's game-high 16 points (6-13 FG) with six rebounds, and Ellis tallied 13 points (4-9 FG) as the Knights opened the season 1-0.
 
For the second straight season, Queens has won their season opener at home with the Knights knocking off Felician University last season. With the win, the Knights ended a two-game losing streak to the Panthers and earned their second straight victory over the Garden City foes in Flushing.
 
Chester opened the scoring 17 seconds in with a layup before the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to jump ahead 7-4. 
 
With the Knights trailing 16-11, sophomore Tyron Wright (Camby, IN) and Chester would start a 10-4 run as Queens regained a slim lead of 21-20 with 8:54 left in the first half. 
 
Both sides would exchange leads with Diamond and Chester doing most of the scoring for the Knights.
 
With the game tied 31-31 at the Under-4 media timeout, Queens would go back and forth before they took a one-point lead of 36-35 going into halftime.
 
Queens started the second half as the aggressors with Ellis leading an 11-1 run as the Knights took their largest lead of the game of 47-36 by the 16:25 mark. 
 
Adelphi's Ronnie Silva would bring the Knights' lead down to eight 47-39 but Ellis would not be outdone as the senior led another run of 15-6 run from the 15:16 mark to 10:35 for a 17-point advantage of 62-45 to put the game away from the Panthers. 
 
The Panthers would push for a late run but the Knights would ice the game at the charity stripe to earn a 79-72 victory in their season opener. 
 
Game Highlights

• Diamond and Chester led all Knights with 16 points, while Carey notched his second double-double of the career with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. 
• Carey ended last season with a double-double and picked up where he left off wiht his first double-double of the season. 
• Ellis tallied 13 points, while Wright tallied seven points (2-3 3PT) with five rebounds in his debut.
• Queens held a 38-27 rebounding margin as they tallied 15 second-chance points. 
• The Knights shot 50.0% (30-60 FG) compared to the Panthers' 47.5% (28-59 FG) from the field including 51.72% in the second half.

NEXT GAME: Head coach Matt Collier and the Knights wrap up the ECC/NE10 Conference Challenge as they match up against the Setters of Pace University Saturday (Nov. 12) afternoon in Flushing. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. 

Live Stats: Men's Basketball | Live Stream: ECC Network