Altoona, Pa. – Keystone College erased a 14-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation in a non-conference men's basketball game at Penn State Altoona on Sunday afternoon, but dropped a 104-101 overtime decision.
The two teams traded the lead four times in the opening minutes of Sunday's contest before Penn State Altoona (3-2) claimed a 26-19 advantage with 11:18 remaining in the first half.
Devin Stricklin (Midland, Tex./Pro Vision Prep) brought Keystone (2-3) to within five points on a layup, but the Lions connected on a three-pointer on their next trip down the floor to kick start an 11-0 run for the hosts that gave Penn State Altoona a 37-21 lead with just over seven remaining in the period.
The Giants countered with the next 14 points to pull within two points at the 4:19 mark on a
Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) field goal before the Lions halted the visitors run. The hosts went back in front by as many as six points before Keystone took a 43-42 lead with 1:14 left on the clock on a three-pointer by
Jalen Flynn (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg).
John Kirkpatrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) then went 1-2 from the free throw line before Penn State Altoona knocked down a field goal just before the buzzer to send the game into halftime deadlocked at 44-44.
The start of the second half was tightly contested and the score was knotted at 61-apiece until the Lions used a 12-0 burst to open up a 73-61 advantage with 8:13 remaining in regulation.
Penn State Altoona would lead by as many as 14 points, but Keystone forced overtime by outscoring the hosts 20-6 over the final five minutes, tying the game at 88-88 on a
Perry Belcher (Orlando, Fla./Colonial) layup at the buzzer.
Austin Smith (Titusville, Fla./Florida Air Academy) opened the scoring in the extra frame with a three-pointer, but the Lions equalized on an old-fashioned three-point play. Belcher gave the Giants a 97-96 edge with 1:53 remaining in overtime, but Penn State Altoona scored back-to-back field goals to take a three-point edge.
JT Bennett (Kansas City, Kan./Washington) scored on a layup to bring the visitors to within a point, but that was as close as Keystone came down the stretch as the hosts went 4-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to secure the win.
Rich Bouknight led five Lions in double-figures for the game with 20 points while Ishimeal Nance (19), C Gardner-Nicholson (18), Dequan Jackson (18), and Jalen Archie-Davis (16) also reached double-digits. Gardner-Nicholson was Penn State Altoona's leading rebounder with 15 boards for the hosts, who shot 48.2 percent from the field for the game, 20 percent from three-point range, and 67.9 percent from the free throw line.
Belcher and Kirkpatrick tied for a game-high with 20 points apiece for Keystone with Kirkpatrick adding a game-high 17 rebounds. Bennet finished with 19 points while Bennet added 11 points for the Giants, who connected on 37.4 percent of their field goal attempts while going 30 percent from long distance and a solid 82.8 percent from the charity stripe.
Michael Leak (Cleveland, Ohio/Leon) dished out a game-best five assists to go along with three steals, which was tied with Belcher for the team-lead.
Keystone will visit local rival Clarks Summit University on Wednesday night for a Colonial States Athletic Conference tilt starting at 8:00 p.m. in Clarks Summit.
