Rochester, NY – Khyle Diaz (East Miramar, FL/Pembroke Pines Charter) scored a career-high 18 points and was named the Chuck Resler All-Tournament Team, but it was not enough as Ohio Northern University defeated Keystone College 110-75 in the consolation game of the men's basketball tournament at the University of Rochester's Louis Alexander Palestra.  The Polar Bears improve to 2-1 on the young season while the Giants, who also got 18 points from Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College), remain winless in three contests to start the season.
 
Ohio Northern guard Joey Hurless set a single-game record for both the Polar Bears and the tournament with 16 assists.  The junior also set a tournament record with 25 assists over the weekend to join Diaz on the All-Tournament Team.
 
Ohio Northern scored the first 10 points of Saturday's third-place game before pushing their lead to 20-4 four and a half minutes into the contest.  Keystone countered with an 8-2 run to narrow their deficit to 22-12, but the Polar Bears stretched the advantage to 41-19 with just under eight minutes left in the first half.  A.J. Newell (Hackensack, NJ/Hawthorne Christian Academy) scored the contest's next four points to bring the Giants to within 18 points, but Ohio Northern went on a would lead by as many as 21 points before taking a 53-37 lead into halftime.
 
Aron Thress led all scorers with 12 points in the first half for Ohio Northern, who got eight points apiece from Devon Allen and Konnor Baker in the opening 20 minutes of play.  The Polar Bears shot a hot, 57.5 percent from the floor in the first half while going 4-12 from three-point range and 3-4 from the free throw line.
 
Diaz and Peeples paced Keystone's offense with nine points apiece in the first half for the Giants, who also got six points from ShaShawn Drayton (Monticello, NY/Monticello) in the period.  Keystone finished the first half shooting 31.7 percent from the field including a 7-15 effort from beyond the arc while going just 4-11 from the charity stripe.
 
The Giants used a 12-2 early in the second half to cut their deficit to eight points, 64-56, with 15:05 left in regulation when Tyree Jones (Harlem, NY/Holcombe L. Rucker) hit the front end of a pair of free throws.  Ohio Northern countered with a decisive, 22-2 run to put the game out of reach midway through the period as Keystone would come no closer than within 25 points the rest of the way.
 
Thress finished with game-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds to lead Ohio Northern while Travis Feitshans totaled 16 points.  Allen and Baker contributed 14 points apiece in the win while Ryan Bruns chipped in with 10 points for the Polar Bears, who shot 53.8 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from downtown, and 72.2 percent from the line for the game.  Ohio Northern also held a 63-34 advantage on the glass while Keystone finished with an 11-14 advantage in turnovers.
 
Diaz, who doubled his previous career-high of nine points, went 6-10 from three-point range to total 18 points.  Peeples went 6-8 from the field and 4-5 from downtown to also score 18 points while lead Keystone with six assists and three steals.  Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) added 10 points a team-leading six rebounds for the Giants while Drayton and Jones finished with eight points apiece.
 
Keystone finished the contest connecting on 34.2 percent of their attempts from the floor including a 38.9 percent clip from beyond the arc.  The Giants struggled from the free throw line, hitting on just nine of 23 attempts from the stripe.
 
Keystone will open the Colonial States Athletic Conference portion of their schedule on Wednesday, December 2^nd at local rival Summit University.  Game time between the Giants and Defenders is set for 7:00 p.m. in Clarks Summit.