Hampden-Sydney, VA – Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) became the all-time scoring leader in Keystone College men's basketball history on Friday afternoon in the consolation game of the Luck Stone Holiday Tournament hosted by Hampden-Sydney College, but it wasn't enough as Kean University held off the Giants for a 65-51 victory. Lunsford tied for a game-high with 14 points in the loss and now has 1,537 for his career, the most by a Keystone player since the Giants began play in the 1936-37 season.
In one fell swoop early in the second half of Friday's, Lunsford moved from third to first on Keystone's all-time scoring list. The senior forward scored on a layup 55 seconds into the second half to move into sole possession of second place ahead of Kenneth Hardnett (1,529 from 2008-2012) before tying Destin Scott's previous record of 1,533 (2000-2002; 2003-2005) on a jumper with 15:59 left in regulation. Lunsford then broke the record on a layup with 14:57 remaining.
Keystone (0-8) took a 14-12 lead with 12:28 remaining in the first half when Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) drained a three-pointer, but Kean (3-7) answered with a trey of their own on their next possession to start a 8-0 run that gave the Cougars a 20-14 edge with just under nine and a half minutes left. After Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) connected from downtown, Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) scored on a fast break layup to bring the Giants to within a single point at the 7:27 mark, but Kean outscored Keystone 14-3 over the rest of the stanza to hold a 34-22 lead at the break.
Kean, who shot 52 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play, was led by nine points from J.J. Hladik and eight points from Tommy Soulias in the half. Tim Steward grabbed six rebounds for the Cougars, who went 5-11 from downtown in first stanza and 3-4 from the free throw line.
Lunsford and Candemeres scored six points apiece to pace Keystone in the first half while Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) pulled down six rebounds in the frame. Longmire led all players with three assists for Keystone, who shot just 25 percent from the floor in the opening frame including a 26.3 percent effort from beyond the arc while connecting on all three of their free throw attempts in the period.
With Kean holding a 41-31 lead with 14:57 left in regulation, Lunsford's record-breaking layup ignited an 8-0 run for Keystone that saw the Giants draw to within two points when Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) hit the back end of a pair of free throws with 12:11 remaining. The Cougars pushed their lead back to as many as seven points before Keystone surged right back into the game, trailing 51-50 after Kelley laid one in with 4:38 showing on the clock.
Kean would score the next eight points of the game to hold a 59-50 advantage with 1:36 remaining and pull away with the 14-point victory after outscoring the Giants 14-1 over the final four and a half minutes.
J.J. Hladick tied Lunsford for the game-high with 14 points while Steward added a double-double on 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to lead Kean, who also got double-figure points from Soulias (11) and Emmanuel Omowole (10). Hladik and Soulias had three assists apiece for the Cougars, who finished the afternoon shooting 44.9 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent from three-point range, and 76.5 percent from the free throw line.
Lunsford added seven rebounds and two steals to his 14-point performance to pace Keystone while Dargan added 10 points for the second-straight game. Kelley corralled a career-high nine rebounds for the Giants to go along with a pair of steals and two blocks while Longmire dished out a game-high four helpers. Candemeres chipped in with eight points, three assists, and two steals in the loss. For the game, the Giants hit on 29.3 percent of their field goal attempts and were cold from long-range, going just 6-35 (17.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Keystone shot a solid, 73.3 percent from the charity stripe, hitting on 11 of 15 free throw attempts.
Keystone forced Kean into 12 turnovers and committed just 10 turnovers themselves while the Cougars held a slim, 36-34 edge in rebounds for the game.
The Giants will be off until after the New Year before returning to the hardwood on Wednesday, January 7th at Cairn University. Opening tipoff of the Colonial States Athletic Conference matchup is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.