Aston, PA – Neumann University denied Keystone College their first victory of the season with an 80-68 win over the Giants on Saturday in Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball action. The Knights lift their record to 5-3 overall on the season with the win including a 2-1 mark in conference play while the Giants remain winless in six contests this year including three CSAC contests.
Trailing 16-12 with a 11:41 remaining in the first half of Saturday afternoon's contest,
Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) connected on a three-pointer that cut Neumann's lead to a single point before the Knights scored the game's next seven points to hold a 23-15 advantage midway through the period. The hosts would lead by as many as 15 points before taking a 43-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
James Butler led Neumann with 10 points and seven rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play as the hosts shot 51.4 percent from the floor in the stanza while going 2-9 from three-point range and 5-7 from the free throw line.
Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) paced Keystone with nine points and four boards in the opening frame while
Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) netted seven points in the period. The Giants struggled from the field in the first half, hitting on just 31.0 percent of the field goal attempts including a 33.3 percent effort from downtown while converting seven of eight free throw opportunities.
Keystone cut their deficit to single digits with 13:33 remaining in the second half on a layup by Monroe that made the score 51-43 in favor of Neumann, who countered with the next six points of the game to push their advantage to 57-43 midway through the period. A pair of free throws from
Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) with 1:13 remaining cut the Knights' lead to 73-63 before
Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) connected on a three-pointer to bring the Giants to within seven with 1:03 left on the clock, but the visitors were unable to come any closer as Neumann went 5-6 from the free throw line to seal the victory.
Butler scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to complete a double-double for Neumann, leading five players for the Knights in double-figures. DeShawn Lowman tallied 14 points, Tyreek Riddick netted 13 points and Shakeem Stevens and Kevin Green contributed 11 points apiece for the hosts, who shot 50.8 percent from the field for the game while going 1-3 from beyond the arc and 15-25 from the charity stripe. The Knights, who held a 44-31 advantage on the glass for the contest, got eight boards apiece from Stevens and Lowman.
Lunsford led Keystone with 15 points while Longmire netted 14 points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards on the day. Candemeres added 11 points while leading the Giants with four assists. Kelley chipped in nine points for the visitors while
Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) dished out three helpers in the loss.
For the game, Keystone connected on 39.3 percent of their field goal attempts including a 33.3 percent effort from three-point land. The Giants went 73.3 percent from the free throw line in the loss.
Keystone will return to action on Thursday, December 18
th at the Luck Stone Holiday Tournament hosted by Hamden-Sydney College. The Giants will take on Sewanee: The University of the South at 4:00 p.m. in first round action in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia before playing either Hampden-Sydney or Kean University on the final day of the tournament the following day.
