La Plume, PA – Gwynedd Mercy University placed five players in double-figures on Thursday night on their way to a 90-74 victory over Keystone College in Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball action.  The Griffins lift their overall record to 15-5 with the win while going to 11-2 in conference play while the Giants see their record drop to 9-11 on the season and 6-7 in the CSAC.   
 
Keystone jumped out to a 10-2 lead over the first 4:56 of Thursday's night's contest after DaVaughn Thomas (Port Arthur, TX/Silsbee) scored on a layup before Gwynedd Mercy scored the game's next six points to make it a two-point contest.  The Giants extended their lead to 19-12 midway through the period when Rashaud Kelley (Farrell, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) connected on the three-pointer.  The Griffins narrowed their deficit to 30-29 at the 4:15 mark before Deion Monroe (Kingston, NY/Kingston ) and Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) hit back-to-back treys to give the hosts a 36-29 advantage.  Keystone held a 37-31 lead with 2:24 remaining, but Gwynedd Mercy scored the final nine points of the stanza to take a 40-37 advantage into the locker room at the break.
 
Julian Hyden came off the bench to score nine points in the first half to lead the Gwynedd Mercy while Darnell Artis had eight points.  Colin Gates led all players with five rebounds as the visitors held a 22-14 advantage on the glass in the period.  The Griffins shot 46.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play while going 2-9 from three-point range and 8-13 from the free throw line.
 
Kelley led all players by netting 10 points off the bench to lead Keystone in the first stanza while Lunsford tallied nine points and Monroe netted eight points off the bench. Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) dished out three assists to lead all players while pulling down four rebounds for the Giants, who shot 40 percent from the field in the period including a 6-16 effort from downtown while hitting on 11-14 attempts from the stripe. 
 
Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) opened the second half scoring with a three-pointer to tie the contest.  After a Gwynedd Mercy field goal, Lunsford hit a pair of free throws to make it a 42-42 score before the Griffins built a 58-42 lead with 12:27 left in regulation.  Lunsford and Longmire combined to hit four straight free throws to bring the Giants to within 58-57 before the visitors used a 10-1 run to claim a 68-59 advantage with eight and a half minutes left on the clock.  Darien Wingate (Brooklyn, NY/Christiana) connected on a pair of free throws at the 7:58 mark to bring the Giants to within five points, but it was a close as the hosts would come the rest of the way as Gwynedd Mercy outscored the Giants 22-11 the rest of the way. 
 
Artis finished with a game-high 21 points to lead five Griffins in double figures.  Cedric Elleby recorded a double-double on 19 points and a game-high 16 rebounds while Gates netted 14 points.  Brian Hennessey contributed 13 points and Hyden finished with 12 pints, five blocks, and a team-best four assists for the Griffins, who shot 49.2 percent from the floor for the game, 29.4 percent from downtown, and 67.5 percent from the stripe.  The visitors also held a 48-33 advantage on the boards for the evening.
 
Lunsford recorded team-highs of 20 points and eight rebounds for Keystone, who got 11 points from Monroe and 10 points from Kelley.  Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) scored nine points while leading all players with five assists for the Giants, who shot just 28.8 percent from the field including a cold, 20.6 percent effort in the second half.  The hosts shot 29.6 percent from three-point land on the night while going a solid, 32-38 from the free throw line.
 
Keystone returns to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon when they visit Neumann University for a critical CSAC contest scheduled to tipoff at 3:00 p.m. in Aston, PA.