Dover, Del. – Keystone College trailed host Delaware State University by just seven points at halftime of Saturday's non-conference men's basketball game, but the Division I Hornets pulled away in the second half to pick up a 92-69 victory over the visiting Giants.  Delaware State improves to 3-8 on the season while Keystone falls to 2-5 overall.
 
Delaware State build a 21-8 advantage over the first 9:45 of Saturday's contest and led by as many as 14 points before Keystone used a 9-0 run to pull to within five at 24-19 with 7:24 left in the first half.  The Hornets went back in front by 10 points before the Giants pulled to within two points at 32-30 with two and a half minutes remaining in the period on a Khyle Diaz (East Miramar, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) three-pointer.  Delaware State scored the final five points of the half to take a 37-30 edge into the locker room at the break.
 
Delaware State's DeVaughn Mallory led all players with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first half while Kavon Waller added eight points for the Hornets, who went 50 percent from the floor in the period including a 6-13 showing from beyond the arc.
 
Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) paced Keystone with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play while Diaz and John Kirkpatrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) netted six points apiece.  Devin Stricklin (Midland, Tex./Pro Vision Prep) had four assists and three steals for the Giants, who shot 44.8 percent from the field while going 4-12 from three-point range in the first stanza.
       
Deion Monroe (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston ) hit a trey to open the second half and bring Keystone to within four points, but Delaware State countered with a 20-6 run over the next 6:25 to open up a 57-39 advantage with 13 and a half minutes remaining.  The Giants pulled to within 14 points before the Hornets put the game out of reach with an 18-2 burst that gave the hosts a 77-47 lead with 8:34 left on the clock.  Keystone battled to the end though, pulling to within 21 points before the game ended with a 23-point margin.
 
Waller finished with a game-high 26 points for Delaware State and was joined in double-figures by Mallory (18), Devin Morgan (16), and Artem Tavakalyn (10).  Mallory pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds while Morgan led all players with 10 assists to round out double-doubles for the Hornets, who shot 54.4 percent from the field for the game and 50 percent from three-point range. 
 
Gilliam led Keystone with 16 points, Diaz netted 15 points, and Perry Belcher (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) added 11 points.  Stricklin led the squad with seven assists and had three steals to tie with Belcher and Bryan Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./Rialto) for the team-lead.  Monroe corralled six rebounds to pace the Giants, who connected on 44.3 percent of their field goal attempts including a 43.3 showing from long distance. 
 
Keystone finished the contest with a slim edge in turnovers, forcing Delaware State into 21 turnovers while giving the ball away 20 times themselves.  The Hornets held a 46-25 advantage in rebounding for the game.
 
The Giants will host Penn State Altoona on Friday night in a non-conference game starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center.