Clinton, NY - Ajani Santos recorded game-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead four Hamilton College men's basketball players in double-figures as the Continentals defeated Keystone College 82-66 in the Giants' final non-conference game of the season. Hamilton improves to 12-6 overall on the season while Keystone will take a 5-12 mark into a crucial stretch of Colonial States Athletic Conference games.
Hamilton built a 23-11 lead over the first 10:13 of Monday night's contest before Keystone used a 12-2 run to narrow their deficit to two points, 25-23, with just under six minutes remaining in the opening stanza. The Giants would take their first lead of the game at the 2:35 mark on a
Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) three-pointer, but after the teams swapped a pair of field goals, the Continentals closed the half with a 7-2 spurt to hold a 38-34 edge at the break.
Peter Kazickas paced Hamilton with nine points in the opening frame while Santos and Joseph Lin netted eight points apiece for the Continentals, who shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 4-8 from three-point range and 6-9 from the free throw line.
Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) led Keystone with seven points in the first half while Longmire and
Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) added six points for the Giants, who connected on 57.1 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half while going 4-10 from beyond the arc and 6-9 from the line.
Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) connected on a jumper to open the scoring in the second half to make it a two-point game, but Hamilton answered with 11-straight points to push their advantage to 49-36 with 16:28 remaining in regulation. Keystone trimmed their deficit to seven points with just over nine minutes left on the clock, but that was as close as the Giants would come as the hosts pushed their lead to as many as 17 points before closing out the game.
In addition to Santos, Hamilton got double-figure points from Kazickas (17), Lin (13), and Joe Pucci (12). Lin led all players with nine assists while Kyle Pitman collected a game-high four steals for the Continentals, who finished the game hitting on 47.4 percent of their field goal attempts while going a solid, 9-18 (50 percent) from downtown and 19-22 (86.4 percent) from the free throw line while holding a 36-22 advantage in rebounding on the evening.
Lunsford paced Keystone's offense with 19 points while Longmire added 11 points after coming in off the bench. Peeples ended the night with nine points while
DaVaughn Roberts-Thomas (Port Arthur, TX/Silsbee) and
Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) tallied seven points apiece in the loss. Dargan dished out a team-leading five assists while Roberts-Thomas added four helpers for the Giants, who shot 49 percent from the floor, 29.2 percent from three-point land, and 64.7 percent from the stripe in the loss.
Keystone will travel to Hackettstown, New Jersey on Wednesday evening for a key CSAC matchup. Opening tipoff between the Giants and Cyclones is set for 8:00 p.m.
