Allentown, Pa. – Wilkes University improve to 2-0 on the season on Friday afternoon with a 96-68 victory over Keystone in the first round of the Scotty Wood Tournament hosted by Muhlenberg College on Friday afternoon.   The Giants had four players reach double-figures in the season-opening loss to the Colonels.  
 
Keystone (0-1) will take on the loser of Friday night's matchup Muhlenberg and the Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday.  If the Giants play Merchant Marine, the game time will be 3:00 p.m. while a matchup with the host Mules would start at 8:00 p.m. in Muhlenberg's Memorial Hall.
 
Keystone built a 13-10 advantage over the opening 5:48 of Friday's contest, but Wilkes countered with a 17-3 run to hold a 27-16 lead with eight and a half minutes remaining in the opening half.  The Colonels stretched their advantage to as many as 15 points before the Giants trimmed their deficit to 44-38 on a dunk by ShaShawn Drayton (Monticello, N.Y./Monticello), but Wilkes netted the final field goal of the first half to take an eight-point lead into the intermission.
 
Marcus Robinson led Wilkes with nine first half points while Connor Evans added eight points for the Colonels, who shot 52.8 percent from the field in the opening stanza and were 6-14 from beyond the arc.
 
Keystone's Deion Monroe (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston ) paced all scorers with 11 points while Perry Belcher (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) netted eight point in the first 20 minutes for the Giants, who connected on 41.7 percent of their shots from the floor in the opening half including a 4-10 effort from three-point range.
 
Wilkes opened the second half with a 15-3 burst to stake out a 61-42 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining.  Keystone answered with the next four points, but the Colonels put the game out of reach by building a 77-50 lead with 8:10 left in the second half.
 
Robinson finished with a  game-high 27 points for Wilkes while Tommy Bowen (16) and Evans (10) also reached double-figures.  Clay Basalyga and Mason Gross tied for the team-lead with six rebounds apiece as the Colonels held a slim, 42-40 edge on the glass. 
 
Wilkes shot 54.1 percent from the field for the game including a 37 percent showing from downtown while going 6-9 from the free throw line.
 
Monroe and Belcher led Keystone with 14 points apiece, Khyle Diaz (East Miramar, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) netted 12 points, and Drayton finished with 11 points.  Belcher dished out a game-high seven assists and tied with Monroe and Devin Williams (Monticello, N.Y./Monticello) for the team-lead in rebounds with six.  Drayton also tied for a game-high with three steals.  
 
The Giants finished the day hitting on 38.8 percent of their field goal attempts including a 33.3 showing from three-point range.  Keystone, who was -11 in the turnover department (27-16) shot a cold 40 percent from the free throw line in the contest.