Rosemont, Pa.—Keystone College could not find a way to slow down Rosemont College in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) regular-season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon.
Turns out, the Giants didn't really have to, as Marywood University's 84-63 win over Immaculata secured Keystone the number six seed and the final playoff spot in the upcoming CSAC tournament, which begins Monday evening. Keystone and Immaculata tied for the final spot, but the Giants hold the tiebreaker due to its two wins over Immaculata in the regular-season.
Thank goodness, for there was no stopping Rosemont today, which shot 57 percent from the field en route to a convincing 105-68 victory.
Senior guards Charles Presley and Mekhi Clemons combined for 39 points on 14 of 25 shooting from the field and junior guard Alex Epps-Ortiz made all eight of his shot attempts and finished with 17 points as the Ravens locked up the number four seed. They finish the regular-season with a 16-9 record and an 11-7 mark in the CSAC.
Keystone, now 11-14 overall and 9-9 in the CSAC, was led by junior guard
Mark Perry (Harrisburg, Pa./Steelton Highspire) with 13 points and junior guard
JT Bennett (Kansas City, Kan./Washington) added 12. The Giants, who shot a respectable 47 percent from the field but were just 7 of 22 from the 3-point arc (31.8 percent), also received 11 points from senior guard
Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) and sophomore center
John Kirkpatrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast).
The Giants jumped out to an early 4-0 lead but it was all Rosemont the rest of the way. Clemons and Epps-Ortiz combined for 25 first-half points as the Ravens built up a 54-34 lead. Their lead was never seriously threatened in the second half.
For the game, the Ravens connected on 14 of 23 3-point field goals (60.9 percent) and converted 19 Keystone turnovers into 37 points.
Rosemont will host Marywood Monday evening while Keystone travels to Neumann University in Aston, Pennsylvania. The Giants split with Neumann this year, winning 91-80 at home on December 2 before losing 93-87 on the road on January 27.
