CARROLLTON, Ga. - UWG men's basketball battled with the Royals of Queens tonight in The Coliseum, but the Royals' bench points and three-point differential pushed the visitors to a 72-57 victory over the Wolves.

Following a closely contested first half with 12 lead changes, West Georgia (5-25, 3-14 ASUN) was unable to match Queens' (18-12, 11-6 ASUN) explosive scoring bursts, driven by a 41-12 bench points differential and 7-1 three-point advantage, resulting in a Royals road win. Tonight's defeat pushed Queens' series lead to 4-0.

Junior forward Shelton Williams-Dryden led the way with a career-high 30 points. Behind Williams-Dryden, senior forward Kolten Griffin knocked down seven. 

Freshman forward Yoav Berman posted a Queen-high and a personal best 22 points. Following Berman, senior guard Chris Ashby dropped 16 points.

Following the game, head coach Dave Moore briefly talked about what he saw tonight, stating, "Our defensive game plan was solid. When the game was still in question, we had them in the high 50s, low 60s, and that's exactly what we needed to accomplish defensively. We didn't win the glass, but we competed. We had more points off turnovers and more off points in the paint. They got a couple fast-break points that we needed to stop. The difference was their points off the bench and our inability to make shots."

Today's home ASUN action opened up neck-and-neck. By the first media timeout, the score was knotted up at 11 apiece with Shelton Williams-Dryden leading the UWG charge with an early seven points.

Over the next eight minutes, the teams exchanged scoring attacks back and forth. With seven minutes remaining in the half, West Georgia jumped out to a 17-16 advantage, marking the ninth lead change of the game. 

With both the Wolves and Royals struggling to shoot above 20 percent from three-point range, they shifted their focus to scoring in the paint.

Heading into the break, West Georgia trailed 35-27 after Queens closed on a 8-0 scoring run. Williams-Dryden posted a UWG-high 17 points while shooting 70 percent from the field and hitting his lone three-point attempt. Yoav Berman led the way for the Royals, posting a team-best 16 points while shooting 80 percent from the field in addition to hitting a pair of threes. 

Carrying over their scoring run into the second half, the visitors from the Tar Heel State continued to distance themselves from the Wolves. At the first media timeout, Queens extended their lead to 47-35, fueled by 67 percent shooting from anywhere on the court. 

Despite being down double-digits, the Wolves continued to scratch and claw at the Royals' lead. With five minutes remaining in the game, UWG had dashed the Queens' advantage to 57-48. 

After a late UWG shooting slump, the Royals regained a double-digit lead over the Wolves.

Queens held on to win 72-57. 

 Shelton Williams-Dryden secured a career-high tonight, knocking down 30 points while shooting 57 percent from the field. Over the past four games, the forward achieved a new personal scoring record and tallied a pair of double-doubles.

As mentioned, three-pointers were a crucial factor in tonight's contest, with Queens outscoring the Wolves 21-3 from deep, thanks to a 7-1 advantage in made threes.

"We went 1-for-11 from three. We were minus 18 points from three. That's the difference. It's been the difference a lot of nights for us this year. You can't beat a good team going 1-for-11 from three," said coach Moore after the game.

The Wolves return to The Coliseum this Wednesday to face off against Austin Peay State University in the final game of the year. Tip is set for 7 p.m. and tickets for this conference clash can be bought here.