Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – EKU blocked 11 shots as a team and went on a 13-0 run in each half as the Colonels defeated Queens 88-83 in their ASUN opener on Saturday afternoon in Baptist Health Arena. 

Isaiah Cozart blocked eight shots and grabbed eight rebounds while four different Colonels scored in double figures, led by Devontae Blanton's 22 points. Leland Walker finished with 19 points, Tayshawn Comer tallied 13 points and four steals, and Michael Moreno netted 11 points and added seven rebounds. EKU outscored Queens 40-30 in the paint and shot 47.1 percent (33-of-70) from the floor.
  
Queens built an early 8-2 lead, but five consecutive points from Moreno helped the Colonels (8-6, 1-0 ASUN) pull within a basket at the 15:23 mark. EKU trailed 13-9 before Blanton's layup initiated a 13-0 run over the next 3:48. Cozart tied the game at 13-13 with a layup, then blocked each of Queens' next three shots, while John Ukomadu's dunk off a Comer alley-oop highlighted the run as the Colonels took a 22-13 lead at the midway point of the first half.
 
EKU led by as many as 10, but the Royals (11-4, 1-1 ASUN) rallied back to tie the score with 26 seconds left in half. Walker drained a three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to give the Colonels a 41-38 lead heading into halftime.
 
The Royals scored the first basket of the second half before EKU embarked on a 17-3 run to extend its lead to 58-43. Moreno's three-pointer at the 16:19 mark moved him past Lewis Spence for 29^th on EKU's career scoring list as the Colonels again scored 13 consecutive points to take a 15-point advantage with 14:50 left to play.
 
EKU's lead dwindled to five with 10:09 remaining in the game, but Blanton hit a hook shot in the paint before Comer stole the ensuing inbound pass and buried a three to quickly put the Colonels back up by double digits, 65-55. Queens pulled within five points again before Comer answered with another triple and a layup to make the score 75-65 EKU with 5:22 to go.
 
The Colonels pushed their lead to 15 points on a Blanton three-pointer with 3:30 left in the game, but the Royals scored 11 of the game's next 13 points to make the score 84-78 with 1:58 remaining. EKU held Queens without a basket on its next two possessions and made three of four free throws to go up 87-78 with 33 seconds remaining. The Royals scored five consecutive points in the closing seconds before Cooper Robb's free throw with five seconds left iced the win for the Colonels.

EKU takes its first conference road trip of the season on Monday when the Colonels visit Kennesaw State at 6:30 p.m.