The Keystone College men's basketball team will look to get back on the winning track this Wednesday, January 31, when it hosts Clarks Summit University in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) action at the Gambal Athletic Center in La Plume. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m.
With only six conference games remaining, the Giants need a win to further solidify their play-off chances. Keystone is now tied for fifth-place with Immaculata, a half-game ahead of Marywood University and two and a half games behind Rosemont for fourth-place.
The top six teams advance to the CSAC play-offs, which begin with quarterfinal action on Monday, February 19, and conclude with the championship game on Saturday, February 24. The eventual champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Clarks Summit notes: the Defenders come into Wednesday's game with a 1-18 overall record and have yet to win a game in CSAC action…after opening the season with an 80-79 victory against the College of St. Elizabeth at home, Clarks Summit has dropped 18 straight, including an 83-68 decision to Keystone at home on November 29…sophomore guard John McGlosky leads the Defenders in scoring with a 13.1 points per game average…freshman guard Preston Huckaby and sophomore forward Reed Plantz are contributing 9.8 and 9.2 points per game, respectively, while Plantz is also shooting 61 percent from the field and 74 percent from the free throw line.
Keystone notes (team): the Giants are currently in the midst of a season-long three-game losing streak…of Keystone's 11 losses, two have been in overtime and two others have been decided by six-or-fewer points…the Giants made a season-high 14 3-pointers in last Saturday's 93-87 loss at Neumann University; coincidentally, Keystone made 14 3-pointers in the first meeting with Neumann, on December 2 at the Gambal Athletic Center…the Giants have made at least 10 3-pointers eight times this year and are 3-5 in those games…after Wednesday's game with Clarks Summit, the Giants will play four of their final six regular-season games on the road, where they are 4-5 this year…despite dropping its last two games, Keystone's bench has out-scored its last two opponents' reserves substantively; the Giants' bench out-scored Marywood's, 28-4, on January 24 and Keystone's reserves out-scored Neumann's bench, 35-22, last Saturday.
Keystone notes (individual): senior guard
Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) is two points shy of 500 for his career; he has scored 498 points in 41 career games, an average of 12.1 per contest…in last Saturday's game at Neumann, Gilliam came off the bench and scored 15 points on 4 of 8 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc in 25 minutes of action…sophomore guard
JT Bennett (Kansas City, Kan./Washington) has knocked down 55 of 60 free throw attempts and currently leads the CSAC in free throw percentage (.917); in a span of 13 games since November 26, he has missed only twice from the charity stripe (49 of 51, .961); in the latest NCAA Division III statistical rankings, he is seventh in free throw percentage…junior guard
Mark Perry (Harrisburg, Pa./Steelton Highspire), coming off a 19-point, 16-rebound effort Saturday at Neumann, leads the Giants in scoring (18.2), rebounding (10.5), field goal percentage (.627), and minutes per game average (28.0); he has averaged 20 points in his last four games to raise his scoring average from 14.5 on January 15 to its current mark of 18.2.
Up next: Keystone will compete in the CSAC-CUNYAC challenge this Saturday, February 3, against Medgar Evers in Brooklyn, New York, beginning at 3:00 p.m…Giants return to the Gambal Athletic Center next Wednesday, February 7, to host Cabrini University in CSAC action starting at 7:00 p.m.
