La Plume, Pa. - Five Giants reached double-figures in scoring on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't enough visiting Gwynedd Mercy University remained unbeaten in Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball play this season with a 93-79 victory over Keystone College. The Griffins, who got 23 points apiece from Arron Goodman and Julian Hyden, lift their record to 13-5 on the year and 11-0 in conference games while the Giants slide to 4-14 overall and 4-7 in the CSAC.
The first six and a half minute was a back and forth stretch featuring four lead changes and neither team led by more than a single possession.
Devin Williams (Monticello, NY/Monticello) gave Keystone an 18-16 lead when he hit a three-pointer at the 13:17 mark of the first half before Gwynedd Mercy scored the game's next seven points to open up a five-point edge.
Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) followed up a
Tyree Jones (Harlem, NY/Holcombe L. Rucker) layup with a made free throw, hitting the first of two from the line to bring the Giants to within 23-21, but the visitors scored the game's next 10 points and would lead by as many as 13 points before taking a 47-36 lead into the halftime break.
Goodman led Gwynedd Mercy with 12 points in the first while Hyden added 10 points for the Griffins, who shot 48.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 2-10 from three-point range and 11-18 from the free throw line.
Eric Hardaway (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) paced Keystone with 10 points in the first stanza while Monroe contributed nine points. Williams led all players with six rebounds while
Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) dished out four assists for the Giants, who connected on 40 percent of their attempts from the floor in the period while also going 2-10 from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent from the charity stripe.
Keystone narrowed their deficit to seven points, 51-44, when
ShaShawn Drayton (Monticello, NY/Monticello) scored in the paint 2:48 into the second half, but Gwyedd Mercy netted the next 13 points of the contest to build a 63-44 advantage with 15:11 remaining. The Giants clawed back to within 13 points at the 12:11 mark on a three-pointer by Jones, but that was as close as the hosts would come the rest of the way as the Griffins built a 22-point lead before closing out the 14 points win.
Goodman and Hyden combined for 46 points to power Gwynedd Mercy's offense while Aaron Morgan added 12 points. Cedric Elleby and Darnell Artis also reached double-figures for the Griffins, with Artis leading the squad with five assists. Goodman finished a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards for the visitors, who finished the game shooting 51.6 percent from the floor after a 55.6 showing in the second half. Gwynedd Mercy, who was plus-two in the turnover department (13-15), went 28.6 percent from long distance and 59.5 percent from the line.
Monroe finished with a team-high 16 points for Keystone to go along with eight rebounds and two steals while Jones added 14 points and a pair of takeaways. Hardaway tallied 12 points on the day while Peeples and Drayton added 10 points each. Drayton tied with Monroe for the team-lead with eight caroms while Peeples also dished out a game-high seven assists for the Giants, who shot 39.7 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.9 percent from the stripe in the setback. The hosts also held a slim, 41-40 edge in rebounding for the game.
Keystone will return to action on Monday evening with a CSAC contest at Neumann University starting at 8:00 p.m. The road game against the Knights is a makeup of the January 23
rd contest that was postponed due to Winter Storm Jonas.
