La Plume, PA –Nazareth College overcame a fast start by host Keystone College and held on for a 72-68 victory in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday in the Gambal Athletic Center.  The Golden Flyers, who were powered by Mitch Ford's 37-point, 20-rebound effort, improve to 4-5 on the season while the Giants will head into 2016 looking for their first win off the season after falling four the seventh time to start the season.   
 
Four of Keystone's seven losses this season have been by eight or fewer points including three that were four points or less.  The Giants lost on Saturday despite turning the ball over just five times, a new season-best.
 
The Giants enjoyed a fast start on Saturday afternoon, scoring the first 13 points of the game before Nazareth netted their first two points of the game over four and a half minutes into the contest.  With the hosts holding an 18-8 advantage at the 12:03, mark, the Golden Flyers used a 7-2 spurt to cut their deficit to five points. 
 
Keystone pushed their lead back to 10 points, 29-19, before Nazareth rattled off seven straight points to pull to within three points.  Tyree Jones (Harlem, NY/Holcombe L. Rucker) sandwiched a pair of made layups around a field goal by the visitors in the last four minutes of the first half before the Golden Flyers connected on a three-pointer for the final bucket of the stanza, cutting the Giants' lead to 34-32 at the break.  
 
Jones led all players with 13 points in the first half for Keystone while ShaShawn Drayton (Monticello, NY/Monticello) added 10 points and five rebounds.  Devin William corralled four boards for the Giants, who shot 32.4 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 2-13 from three-point range and 8-12 from the free throw line.
 
Ford paced Nazareth with nine points while Nick Nadeau netted six points in the opening stanza for the Golden Flyers, who connected on 39.4 percent of their field goal attempts in the half while going 3-8 from beyond the arc and 3-7 from the charity stripe.
 
Keystone outscored Nazareth 12-8 over the first 4:17 of the second half to claim a 46-40 edge on a Khyle Diaz (East Miramar, FL/Pembroke Pines Charter) trey, but the Golden Flyers countered with an 18-4 run to claim a 58-50 lead with 7:50 remaining.  After a basket by Jones, the visitors pushed their lead to 11 points before the Giants chiseled their deficit down to four points, 66-62, with 2:15 remaining on a lay-in by Eric Hardaway (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights).
 
Nazareth extended their lead to five points before Jones drained a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to make it a 71-68 game, but the visitors iced the win by hitting the backend of a pair of free throws with three seconds showing on the clock.
 
Ford's game-high 37 points came on 15-20 shooting from the floor and a 6-9 effort from the line.  Maurice Mills finished with nine points and 12 rebounds while Tyler Stenglein chipped in with eight points and seven boards for Nazareth, who held a 58-40 advantage in rebounding on the day.  Brendan Wind dished out a game-high seven assists for the Golden Flyers, who shot 42.6 percent from the field, 23.1 percent from long range, and 45.8 percent from the line in the win.
 
Jones netted a team-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists for Keystone while Drayton and Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) tallied 12 points apiece for Keystone.  Drayton tied with Hardaway, who chipped in nine points, for the team-lead with seven caroms on the day while Peeples led the squad with three assists. 
 
Keystone will be idle until Tuesday, January 5 when they travel to Gwynedd Mercy University for a Colonial States Athletic Conference matchup starting at 8:00 p.m. in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.