Bragging rights will be on the line this Saturday, February 3, when the Keystone College men's basketball team takes on Medgar Evers College in the CUNYAC/CSAC challenge in Brooklyn, New York, beginning at 3:00 p.m. The game is one of nine involving teams from the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) against teams from the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC).

The other match-ups include Gwynedd Mercy (CSAC) at Lehman (CUNYAC), Staten Island (CUNYAC) at Cabrini (CSAC), Neumann (CSAC) at Hunter (CUNYAC), Baruch (CUNYAC) at Rosemont (CSAC), Marywood (CSAC)  at York-NY (CUNYAC), John Jay (CUNYAC) at Immaculata (CSAC), Brooklyn College (CUNYAC) at Cairn (CSAC), and City College of New York (CUNYAC) at Centenary (CSAC).

The Giants come into Saturday's game feeling a lot better about themselves, having stopped a three-game slide this past Wednesday, January 31, with a 78-51 win over Clarks Summit University at home.  Keystone exploded for 45 points in the second half and turned up its defensive intensity to break away from a 33-30 halftime lead.  Its bench provided a much-needed spark, out-scoring the Defender reserves, 57-21, led by sophomore guard Jalen Flynn (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg), who connected on 7 of 9 field goal attempts to finish with a game-high 17 points, and senior forward Bryan Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./Rialto), who posted his first 'double double' of the season with 11 points and a season-high 16 rebounds.

Medgar Evers news and notes:  The Cougars bring a 6-14 overall record into Saturday's game.  They snapped a two-game losing streak with an 83-77 victory over the College of Staten Island last Tuesday on the road.  Junior guard Justin Sutton led four players in double figures with 21 points and sophomore forward Jafet Thomas finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Senior guard Maurice Swaby II leads the Cougars in scoring at 20.9 points per game, followed by Sutton (17.0) and sophomore guard Joancarlo Bonilla (10.1).  Keystone will be the second CSAC opponent that Medgar Evers will play this year; on November 25, the Cougars lost to Cairn University, 79-73, in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.

Keystone team news and notes:  The Giants will play their final non-conference game of the season Saturday and its first since December 9.  Keystone is 1-5 in non-conference games this year; its win came against Elmira College, 108-105 in overtime, on November 18 at Speidel Gymnasium in Elmira.  Giants made 13 steals Wednesday against Clarks Summit, the eighth time this year that they have made at least 10 in a game.  Keystone is 5-3 in games in which it comes up with at least 10 steals.  The Giant reserves have out-scored their opponent counterparts in each of their last three games:  vs. Marywood on January 24 (28-4), at Neumann on Jan. 27 (35-22), and against Clarks Summit on Jan. 31 (57-21). 

Keystone individual news and notes:  Senior guard Mark Gilliam (Philadelphia, Pa./High School of the Future) scored the 500^th point of his career Wednesday, finishing with nine points off the bench to give him 507 in 42 career games, an average of 12.1 points per game. Flynn's 17-point effort Wednesday was his second straight double-figures scoring output and third in his last five games.  It was only two points shy of his season-high 19-point effort against Elmira College on November 18.

Up next:  Keystone returns home to host CSAC leader Cabrini University on Wednesday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center in La Plume.  In the first meeting between the two teams, Cabrini pulled out a 98-96 victory in Radnor, Pa., on January 6.  With five CSAC games remaining, the Giants are currently tied for fifth-place with Immaculata University, a game and a half behind Rosemont College for fourth-place.