La Plume, PA – Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) matched a career-high with 23 points and Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) added 22 points to lead Keystone College to a 95-91 victory over Wells College in the season-opener for both teams on Friday night in the Gambal Athletic Center.  The Giants, who gave Interim Head Coach Brad Cooper a win in his first game at the head of the program, will take a 1-0 record into Saturday afternoon's game against Hamilton College.     
 
With the game tied at 12-12 with 12:51 remaining in the first half, Wells (0-1) would go on a 7-1 spurt to hold a 19-13 lead just under midway through the period.  Keystone battled back in a tight period that saw six changes and hold a 33-29 advantage with three and half minutes left after Lunsford converted a pair of free throws, but the Express surged back in front, 40-37, with 45 seconds left on the clock.  Ben Holl (Philadelphia, PA/Friends Select School) drained a three-pointer from the corner 10 seconds later to tie the score and Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to give the Giants a 42-40 lead at halftime.
 
Holl scored 16 points in the first half including a 4-6 effort from three-point range in the period to lead the Giants, who also got nine points from Candemeres and eight points from Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic).  Keystone shot 39.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play but hit on 14 of 15 free throw attempts while going 40 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Shakeel Simmons had nine points and six rebound to lead Wells in the first half while J.J. Walton contributed eight points for the Express, who shot 47.2 percent from the field in the opening period.
 
Wells tied the game with a layup to start the second half but Keystone would score the game's next seven points, capped by a steal and a dunk by Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic), to build a 49-42 advantage 2:20 into the period.  The Express chipped away and knotted the game at 51-51, but the Giants would not relinquish the lead.  Tied for the 11^th time in the game at 59-59 with 11:02 remaining, Keystone used a 10-3 run to claim a 69-62 advantage with 8:42 left on the clock.  The visitors would cut their deficit to three points before Keystone used a 7-1 burst to lead by nine, 91-72, with just over four minutes left.  The hosts would lead by as many as 10 points down the stretch and held off a late comeback attempt by wells.
 
Candemeres finished with a team-high 23 points and led all players with five assists after shooting 5-11 from the floor while hitting on 11 of 12 free throw attempts including a number of key attempts down the stretch.  Lunsford added 22 points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards on the night.  Longmire and Holl both finished the evening with 16 points apiece for Keystone, who shot 45.8 percent from the field for the game and 83.8 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Wells, who played in the NEAC championship game last season, was paced by Walton's game-high 25 points while Al Paul added a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Randy McCormick finished the night with 18 points while Simmons added 15 points in nine rebounds for the Express, who shot 46.5 percent from the floor and 70 percent from the line on the evening.
 
Keystone returns to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon when they take on Hamilton College in a non-conference game scheduled to tipoff at 4:00 p.m. in Gambal Athletic Center.