Gwynedd Valley, PA – Gwynedd Mercy University used a big first half run to claim a 29-point halftime lead and never looked back on their way to a 112-74 victory over Keystone College in the Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball opener for both teams on Tuesday night.  The Griffins improve to 4-1 on the season  and 1-0 in conference play while the Giants remain winless in three contests on the year.
 
Keystone took an early, 6-5 lead in Tuesday night's contest on a three-pointer from Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East), but Gwynedd Mercy quickly reclaimed the lead.  Holding a 19-15 advantage with 13:25 remaining in the first half, the Griffins would outscore the Giants 30-4 over the next 9:15 to hold a 49-19 lead with 4:10 left on the clock.  The hosts would lead by as many as 32 points before taking a 58-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Cedric Elleby led all players with 14 points in the first half for Gwynedd Mercy, who got 10 points from Arron Goodman in the period.  Julian Hyden paced the hosts with seven rebounds and the frame in which the Griffins shot a hot, 64.7 percent from the floor while going 5-10 from three-point range and 9-15 from the free throw line.
 
Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) had 11 points in the opening 20 minutes of play to lead Keystone, who got five points apiece from Candemeres and Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar).  The Giants struggled from the field in the first half, hitting on just 34.6 percent of their field goal attempts in the period while going 4-17 from beyond the arc and 7-13 from the stripe.
 
Coming out of the break, Dargan connected on three consecutive free throws to cut Keystone's deficit to 58-32, but Gwynedd Mercy countered with next eight points of the game to extend their lead to 66-32 with 16:16 remaining.  The Griffins would lead by as many as 46 points while the Giants were unable to come any closer than within 34 points the rest of the way.
 
Elleby led six Gwynedd Mercy players in double-figures with a game-high 25 points while Hyden added 17 points and a game-best nine rebounds.  Goodman (16), Seth Heinicke (15), Justin Knight (12), and Brian Hennessey (12) also reached double-figures for the Griffins, who shot 67.2 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from three-point range, and 65.6 percent from the free throw line while holding a 46-26 advantage in rebounding.
 
Dargan finished with 20 points to pace Keystone's offense while Candemeres and Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) finished with 10 points apiece in the loss.  Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) added eight points while Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) netted seven points for the Giants, who got a team-best four assists from Dargan.  Kelley and Monroe had four rebounds apiece to lead the visitors, who shot 32.8 percent from the floor for the game, 29.3 percent from downtown, and 69.0 percent from the line.
 
Keystone will shoot for their first victory of the season on Saturday evening as they travel to Rochester, New York to take on Nazareth College in a non-conference game scheduled for 7:00 p.m.