La Plume, PA – DaVaughn Roberts-Thomas (Port Arthur, TX/Silsbee) scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Keystone College to a crucial, 86-80 victory over Gwynedd Mercy University in Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night at the Gambal Athletic Center. The Giants, who avenged a 112-74 November setback to the Griffins, lift their record to 7-13 on the season and 7-6 in conference play while Gwynedd Mercy see their record drop to 13-7 overall and 8-5 in the CSAC.
Robert-Thomas, who scored 16 of his points in the second half went 10-12 from the field on the night and 7-10 from the free throw line to finish as the game's leading scorer.
Keystone opened up a five-point lead early in Wednesday's contest before Gwynedd Mercy was able to take their first lead of the game, 22-20, with 7:51 remaining in the first half. The two teams traded the lead seven times the rest of the half, with Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) giving the Giants a 39-38 lead at the break with a steal and a layup just before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Lunsford led Keystone with 14 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, Roberts-Thomas netted 11 points, and Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) chipped in with seven points for the Giants, who shot 44.8 percent from the field in the period while going 25 percent from three-point range and a perfect, 9-9 from the free throw line.
Cedric Elleby paced Gwynedd Mercy with 15 points and eight rebounds in the first half while Justin Knight tallied nine points in the opening frame for the Griffins, who hit on 48.5 percent of their field goal attempts while going 3-7 from beyond the arc and 3-7 from the charity stripe.
The second half picked up right where the first let off with five lead changes over the first six minutes of the period before Gwynedd Mercy was able to open up a 60-55 advantage with 11:07 left in regulation. Keystone answered with a 13-2 run that gave the hosts a 68-62 lead with 8:43 remaining when Lunsford hit a pair of free throws. The Giants pushed their lead to as many as eight points, but the Griffins twice cut their deficit to as few as three points, the last coming with 1:41 left on the clock. Holding the one-possession lead, Keystone went 5-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.
Joining Roberts-Thomas in double-figures for the game was Lunsford, who ended the night with 21 points, five assists, and two steals, Longmire, who totaled 13 points, and Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva), who finished with 11 points. Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) added eight points and nine rebounds to tie with Roberts-Thomas for the Keystone team-lead. For the game, Keystone shot 49.1 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 75 percent from the free throw line.
Elleby led Gwynedd Mercy with a double-double on 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Darnell Artis added 18 points to a game-best six assists. Justin Knight (13 points) and Arron Goodman (11 points) also reached double-figures for the Griffins, who ended the contest hitting on 48.4 percent of their field goal attempts while going 31.8 percent from three-point range and just 44 percent from the line.
Keystone will be back at home on Saturday afternoon to take on Cabrini College in a CSAC game scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in the Gambal Athletic Center. The Giants will be looking to complete a regular season sweep of the reigning conference champion Cavaliers after claiming a 95-93 victory at Cabrini on January 19th.