ST. MARY'S CITY, Md.- The No. 10 seed Keystone College men's basketball team extended its season on Wednesday night with an 80-71 victory over No. 7 seed St. Mary's College of Maryland in the United East First Round.
Jden Golding (Jacksonville, Fla./Clay) poured in 29 points on 11-of-24 shooting while adding five rebounds, three assists, five steals, and a block. Ahmodrion Jones (Wilmington, Del./Delcastle Tech) complemented him with 22 points on 9-of-13 from the field, while Kamdyn Ayers (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Western) chipped in nine points and five rebounds.
St. Mary's was paced by Evan Quintero's 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jake Koverman and Khairi Hyde each added 11 points.
After falling behind 36-32 with just over a minute to play, Keystone closed the half on a 6-0 spurt. Jones tied the game with a layup and, after a steal in the closing seconds, finished with an emphatic dunk to send the Giants into the locker room with a 38-36 advantage.
St. Mary's responded early in the second half, using back-to-back three-pointers from Hyde to take a 42-40 lead. The teams traded baskets before Keystone began to seize control.
With the game tied at 56 apiece near the midway point of the second half, Jones drilled a three from the wing to spark a decisive 7-0 run. Moments later, Golding turned defense into offense, converting a steal into a layup to push the margin to seven at 63-56.
The Seahawks trimmed the deficit to 66-60 with just over five minutes remaining, but Keystone answered again. Jones hit a mid-range jumper, and Demetrius Thomas (Atlanta, Ga./North Clayton) knocked down a pair of free throws to stretch the lead back to eight. Golding later capped the surge with a transition dunk off a feed from PJ Murphy (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) to give the Giants their largest lead of the night at 80-69 with 40 seconds to play.
The Giants shot an even 50 percent from the floor (31-of-62) and turned 21 St. Mary's turnovers into 20 points. Keystone also held a 48-36 edge in points in the paint and received 27 bench points.
Keystone (8-18) faces No. 2 seed Penn State Brandywine in the United East Quarterfinals on Saturday.
