La Plume, Pa. – Marywood University battled past Keystone in a Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball contest on Thursday night in the Gambal Athletic Center, edging the Giants 74-68 for its first win of the season.  The Pacers picked up their first victory in 12 games this season while dropping the Giants to 4-7 overall.  The two teams, who will meet again on February 15 at Marywood, are now both 1-4 in the CSAC.
 
Trailing 12-9 at the 12:51 mark of the first half, Marywood embarked on a 10-0 run to claim a seven-point advantage with nine minutes remaining in the opening stanza.  Keystone countered by scoring the game's next 16 points to build a 28-19 lead with 4:13 showing on the clock.  The Pacers closed the half with a 14-2 run and took a slim, 32-30 edge at halftime after James Curley hit a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.
 
Jeremy Ringland led Marywood with 13 points in the first half while Curley netted nine points.  Mike Rotell corralled five rebounds for the Pacers in the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
Khyle Diaz (East Miramar, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) paced Keystone with 13 points while John Kirkpatrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) totaled eight points in the first stanza.  Devin Stricklin (Midland, Tex./Pro Vision Prep) dished out five assists for the Giants in the opening frame.
 
Both teams went 12-28 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line in the first half while Marywood connected on five of 10 three-point attempts compared to Keystone's 3-10 showing from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Marywood maintained a lead of no greater than two possessions for much of the second half until Keystone tied the game at 62-apiece on layup from Bryan Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./Rialto) with 4:45 left in regulation.  Ringland put the Pacers back in front by going 1-2 from the line and the visitors would build a 68-63 lead before ShaShawn Drayton (Monticello, N.Y./Monticello) hit a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game with 1:04 showing on the clock. 
 
Marywood went 4-6 from the line to make it a 72-66 score line before Diaz connected on a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining to bring the Giants to within four points.  The Pacers sealed the win when Ringland connected on a pair from the stripe with nine seconds left on the clock. 
 
Ringland led all players with 24 points and six blocked shots for Marywood while Rotell added a double-double on 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Curley finished with 14 points while Dexter Shy netted 11 points for the Pacers, who shot 40 percent from the field for the game including a 42.9 percent showing from long range and a 71.4 percent effort at the stripe.
 
Drayton paced Keystone with 19 points to go along with seven steals and two blocked shots while Diaz tallied 16 points.   Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) added 11 points while Kirkpatrick chipped in with 10 points and a pair of blocks. 
 
Stricklin dished out a game-high eight assists to go along with a pair of steals while Perry Belcher (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) handed out five helpers for the Giants, who finished the evening shooting 38.2 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from three-point land, and 83.3 percent from the line.
 
Both teams corralled 38 rebounds on the night while Marywood turned the ball over just nine times compared to 15 giveaways by the hosts.
 
Keystone will visit Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday afternoon for a conference matchup with the Griffins starting at 3:00 p.m.