La Plume, PA – Visiting Rosemont College clinched a berth in the upcoming Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball playoffs by spoiling Keystone College's Senior Day with an 88-75 victory over the Giants. The Ravens lift their overall record to 13-11 on the season and 11-6 in league play while the Giants slip to 8-15 overall and 8-8 in the CSAC and will likely need wins in their final two games of the season to qualify for the conference tournament.
Prior two Saturday's contest, Keystone honored the team's six seniors:
Steve Aniska (Scranton, PA/West Scranton),
Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East),
Isiah A. Curry (Boston, MA/Health Careers Academy),
Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva),
Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar), and
Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry).
An early three-pointer from Dargan gave Keystone their only lead of the first half, but Rosemont was able to go back in front and maintain the lead in a tightly contested opening half. The Ravens enjoyed their largest lead of the period at eight points, 33-25, with four minutes remaining in the period. Trailing 38-31 with 1:45 left on the first half clock, the Giants scored the final five points of the period to cut their deficit to 38-36 heading into the break after
Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) scored just before the halftime buzzer.
Dom Scafidi was the story offensively for Rosemont in the first half with 15 pints and five rebounds to lead all players. The Ravens enjoyed the two-point edge at the break after shooting 48.3 percent from the floor in the half while going 5-13 from three-point range and 5-9 from the free throw line.
Dargan paced Keystone with nine points while Candemeres added seven points. Lunsford chipped in with six points in the period while
DaVaughn Roberts-Thomas (Port Arthur, TX/Silsbee) led the squad with three rebounds. The Giants went 50 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play and were hot from downtown, going 8-13 from beyond the arc while hitting on four of six attempts from the line.
Rosmeont pushed their lead to nine points at 47-39 with 2:19 into the second half before Keystone used back to back treys from Kelly and Lunsford to draw to within three points. A layup by Dargan at the 13:28 mark cut the visitor's lead to 52-50, but the Ravens responded with a 9-1 spurt to claim a 61-51 lead with just over nine minutes left to play.
The Giants cut the score to 68-63 in favor of Rosemont with 4:14 showing on the clock when
Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) laid one in, but the Ravens countered with a decisive, 11-1 run over the next 2:33 to hold a 79-64 advantage with 1:41 left on the clock to take final control of the contest.
Marcus Thomas led all scorers with 22 points while Scafidi finished with a double-double on 21 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Rosemont. Nadir Stukes added 13 points and five assists while Khai Roberts netted 12 points for the Ravens, who finished the contest hitting on 55.6 percent of their field goal attempts following a 64 percent effort from the floor in the second half. Rosemont, who went 4-5 from downtown in the final 20 minutes, was 50 percent from long range for the game while going 59.4 percent from the charity stripe.
Lunsford paced Keystone offensively with 18 points while Candemeres added 14 points for the Giants. Dargan also finished in double-figures with 13 points while Kelley added nine points and a team-leading six rebounds.
Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) led thte squad with four assists while Candemeres dished out three helpers for the Giants, who hit on 45 percent of their shots from the floor for the game while going 40 percent from three-point land and 64.3 percent from the line.
Keystone returns to the hardwood on Monday night for a crucial conference game at local rival Baptist Bible. Opening tipoff between the Giants and Ravens is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Clarks Summit. Keystone won the first meeting between the two teams on January 14
th in La Plume, 90-73.
