La Plume, Pa. – Visiting SUNY Oneonta used a 13-0 run midway through the first half of Wednesday night's season-opening men's basketball game at Keystone College to turn a early deficit into a 10-point lead and held off the Giants on their way to a 97-85 victory over the Giants in the Gambal Athletic Center.
The two teams traded the lead four times over the opening eight minutes of Wednesday evening's contest with Keystone (0-1) opening up a 20-14 lead at the 11:21 mark of the period. After Oneonta (1-0) tied the contest at 22-apiece, a
Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) three-pointer gave the Giants a 25-22 edge midway through the frame before the Red Dragons countered with 13 straight points to open up a 35-25 lead with just over five minutes left on the clock.
Oneonta held a 48-36 lead at halftime after shooting 52.8 percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes of play compared to Keystone's 39 percent effort from the field in the first half.
Keystone chipped away at the visitor's lead and pulled two within four points at 58-54 with 14:52 left in the second half, but the Red Dragons countered with the next six points to restore a double-digit advantage. Oneonta led by as many as 13 points before the Giants pulled two within seven points on two occasions in the final five minutes of regulation, but would come no closer as the visitors took home a the 12-point victory.
Ian Schultz finished with a double-double on game-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oneonta, who got double-figure scoring from five different players including Dwayne Freeman (15), Matthew Boyd (14), Andres Rivera (13), and Anthony Kirkwood (10). Boyd handed out a game-high nine assists for the Red Dragons, who shot 60.6 percent from the field for the game, 30 percent from three-point range, and 56 percent from the free throw line while holding a 54-34 advantage in rebounding.
JT Bennett (Kansas City, Kan./Washington) led the Giants with 19 points and five assists while Gilliam and
Michael Leak (Cleveland, Ohio/Leon) netted 13 points apiece.
Terrence Palmer (Atlanta, Ga./Lakeside) totaled 10 points while
John Kirkpatrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) was Keystone's leading rebounder with eight boards.
The hosts shot 39.5 percent from the floor in the contest including a 28.6 percent showing from downtown and a 52.4 effort at the line.
Keystone will play in the Elmira College Tip-Off Tournament this weekend, opening the tournament on Saturday afternoon against the host Soaring Eagles at 2:00 p.m. in Elmira, New York. Oswego State and Hamilton College are also in the tournament with the consolation and championship games set for 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, respectively.
