La Plume, PA – Visiting Franklin & Marshall College overcame a sizzling start by Keystone College's offense and a 23-point first half deficit to spoil the Giants' season-opener with an 82-75 victory in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday night in the Gambal Athletic Center.  The Diplomats move to a perfect 3-0 on the season with the victory while Keystone (0-1) will now look for their first win on Thursday night when they visit Division I St. Francis (Pa.) University.
 
Keystone came out firing in Tuesday's season-opener as the hosts went 8-13 from three-point range over the opening 12 minutes and would go on to build a 38-15 advantage with 7:19 remaining in the opening half when Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) connected on a jump shot.  Five different Giants connected from downtown during the run. 
 
Franklin & Marshall responded though by scoring next 14 points of the game to trim their deficit to nine points and the visitors would go on to outscored the hosts 26-3 over the final 7:02 to forge a 41-41 tie at the break after Jared Wright scored on a fast-break layup with 19 seconds left in the period.
 
Dargan paced Keystone with 10 points in the first half; Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) netted nine points, while James Cooper (Effort, PA/Pius X) contributed eight points for the Giants, who shot 53.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play including an 8-17 effort from beyond the arc.
 
Brandon Federici paced the Diplomats offensively with 14 first-half points.  The visitors connected on 62.5 percent of their attempts from the floor in the opening stanza while going 2-5 from downtown.  Franklin & Marshall was also 9-15 from the free throw line in the first half while Keystone made one of just three attempts from the line in the period.
 
A lay-up by Daniel Osley 12 seconds into the second half gave the Diplomats their first lead of the game and one that Franklin & Marshall would not relinquish.  The visitors extended their lead to 57-49 with 11:45 mark but Keystone was able to battle back to within two at 67-65 with 7:57 showing on the clock when Cooper sunk a trey. 
 
The Diplomats countered with a 9-2 spurt that gave the visitors a 76-67 advantage with four minutes left in regulation before Keystone was able to cut it back to a single-possession game when Lunsford scored on a layup with 47 seconds remaining to make the score 76-73 in favor of Franklin & Marshall.  The Diplomats would seal the win though by going a perfect, 6-6 from the free throw line in the final 38 seconds of the contest.
 
Federici finished with a game-high 28 points for Franklin & Marshall while Cedric Moune added 15 points and Morgan Lee tallied 14 points in the win.  Federici also tied for a game-high with four assists while Moune led all players with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. 
 
The Diplomats, who held a 41-24 advantage in rebounds for the night, finished the game shooting 57.7 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point land, and 69.2 percent from the free throw line.
 
Lunsford paced Keystone with 19 points while Cooper netted 13 points on the evening.  Dargan and Darien Wingate (Brooklyn, NY/Christiana) contributed 10 points apiece for the Giants, who had Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) tie for a game-high with four assists.  Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) led all players with three steals while tying with Lunsford and Cooper for the team-lead with four rebounds.
 
For the game, Keystone 43.5 percent from the floor while going 30.0 percent from beyond the arc.  The Giants connected on just one three-pointer in the final 28 minutes of the contest.  The hosts shot 80 percent from the charity stripe in the loss, converting 12 of their 15 attempts from the stripe.
 
Thursday night's game at St. Francis will be Keystone's first-ever matchup against an NCAA Division I opponent.  Opening tip between the Giants and Red Flash is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Loretto, Pennsylvania.