La Plume, Pa.—Cabrini University withstood a second-half rally and pulled away down the stretch to post a 92-72 victory over Keystone College in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) men's basketball action Thursday evening at the Gambal Athletic Center.
Junior forward Anthony Wright-Downing and senior forward Tyheim Monroe scored 22 points apiece and combined for 19 rebounds and senior forward Deryl Bagwell finished with 13 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks as the Cavaliers won their fifth straight game and 14
th in their last 15 to improve to 19-3 overall and a league-leading 13-2 in the CSAC. Cabrini also received 16 points and six assists from sophomore guard Keith Blassingale.
Keystone, which had a two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-12 overall and 7-7 in the CSAC, was led by junior guard
JT Bennett (Kansas City, Kan./Washington) with 15 points, senior forward
Bryan Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./Rialto) contributed 12 points and nine rebounds, and junior guard
Mark Perry (Harrisburg, Pa./Steelton Highspire) had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing 57-42 at intermission, the Giants stormed back and used a 19-6 run in the opening seven minutes of the second half to slice Cabrini's lead to two, 63-61. Williams had six points, Perry four, and Bennett and sophomore guard
Austin Smith (Titusville, Fla./Florida Air Academy) each buried a 3-pointer during the spurt.
Then, however, Keystone turned it over on its next two possessions, which allowed the Cavaliers to regain their composure and open up a 7-point margin, 70-63, with 10:56 left.
Bennett sliced the lead back down to four by converting three free throws with 9:17 left before Bagwell answered with a traditional 3-point play and Monroe and freshman guard DJ Smith followed with a lay-up and a 3-pointer, respectively, as Cabrini used an 8-0 run to take a 78-66 lead with 7:59 remaining. Keystone, however, was never able to get the lead under double-digits the rest of the way. The Giants turned the ball over 12 times in the final 20 minutes of play.
The Cavaliers shot nearly 59 percent in the first half in opening up a 15-point cushion. They attacked the basket at will, with 34 of their 57 points coming in the paint. The Giants did a better job on the defensive end in the second half, limiting Cabrini to 32.4 percent shooting from the field.
With four conference games remaining, Keystone is in sixth-place in the CSAC, a half-game ahead of Marywood for the last play-off position. The Giants open a two-game CSAC road trip this Saturday, February 10, against Immaculata University in Immaculata, Pennsylvania, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
