Queens University Charlotte Men’s Basketball Garners Conference Honors
The Queens University of Charlotte men’s basketball team swept the week 13 Atlantic Sun weekly honors, as officially announced by the league on Monday afternoon. AJ McKee was tabbed ASUN Player of the Week and Deyton Albury earned his second straight honor as Newcomer of the Week.
“AJ’s leadership was evident this week, which led to his stellar play,” said head coach Grant Leonard. “Deyton’s decision-making has continued to transform this team. They have made us one of the toughest backcourt combinations to guard and we are excited to see where they take us the rest of the season.”
McKee earned his second career ASUN weekly honor, and the first of the season after leading the Royals to a perfect 2-0 week. The junior averaged 23.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Against the league-leading Eastern Kentucky Colonels, the Charlotte native poured in a game-high 22 points and brought down five rebounds, and dished out three assists. McKee followed it up with a 24-point effort against Bellarmine to secure the Homecoming victory over the Knights. The veteran guard has started all 24 games for the Royals this season and sits top 10 in the league in scoring, field goal percentage, and steals.
“I feel great,” said McKee. “This is big to me because we struggled at the beginning of the season, but now that it’s time to win, and this is when I need to play my best, so I’m proud of myself.”
For the second straight week, newcomer Deyton Albury reeled in ASUN Newcomer of the Week praise. Albury joined Robert McCray V from Jacksonville as the only two players in the league to land the honor in back-to-back weeks. On the week, the Nassau native averaged 20.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Against EKU, Albury poured in 22 points matching a game-high, including a 9-of-10 mark from the free throw line to stun the Colonels. Albury followed it up with a 19-point, six rebounds, and three-assist performance in the win over Bellarmine on Saturday. The Chipola transfer has been one of the league’s best guards sitting third in scoring, sixth in field goal percentage, eighth in assists, eighth in steals, and ninth in free throw percentage.
“This means a lot since we’re coming down to crunch time at the end of the season and we need wins,” said Albury. “I’m just trying to pick up my play as the season ends so we can finish top five in the league and make some noise in the conference tournament.”