KEUKA PARK, N.Y. – The Keuka College Men's Basketball team got a hard-earned 67-66 victory over defending North Eastern Athletic Conference Champions Lancaster Bible College on Saturday at the JMW Recreation and Athletics Center.
The Wolves (2-13, 2-8 NEAC) will look to close out the weekend with a pair of wins as they host Penn St.-Berks at 3pm on Sunday.
Returning to the lineup for Keuka College and making an instant impact was junior Greg Tyler (Edgewater, Md. / Southern). The guard led the Wolves with 20 points in the win. Fellow juniors Dylan Doupe (Phoenix, N.Y. / John C. Birdlebough) and Cliff Stevens (Ballston Spa, N.Y. / Ballston Spa) were also in double figures. Doupe scored 11 points for the Wolves and Stevens added 10. Both grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.
The Wolves took advantage of Charger mistakes. Keuka College forced 25 turnovers, 10 of which were steals. Those 25 turnovers were converted into 28 points for Keuka. They Wolves also attacked the offensive glass, outscoring Lancaster 15-2 in second-chance points.
Keuka College took a small early lead, but Lancaster Bible College strung together a 10-2 run to take the early advantage. Keuka College would draw the game back to level, holding the Chargers without a field goal for over five minutes of play. The Wolves took advantage of some Lancaster Bible fouls. Overall, Keuka went 9-11 from the line in the first half. A pair of free throws by Greg Tyler gave Keuka a 21-20 lead with eight minutes left in the first. After Lancaster took the lead back, the Wolves struck for eight unanswered. A three by Greg Tyler was followed by a Sean Kelly (Glen Aubrey, N.Y. / Whitney Point) three and a jumper by Kelly to give the Wolves a 31-25 lead. Lancaster Bible College closed the half strong. Over the final four minutes, they outscored the Wolves 16-3 to lead 41-34 at halftime.
A quick three by Lancaster had the lead at double-digits, but Cliff Stevens had the answer with a three of his own. The Wolves fought to stay in the game. The big swing came halfway through the first. Keuka put together an 8-0 run to tie the game at 50-50. The streak was capped by an NBA range three-pointer by Greg Tyler. The two teams would trade buckets as Keuka would not go away. A three by Trevor Powell (Manassas, Va. / Osbourn) brought the game back to level, 59-59, with just over five minutes left to play. Minutes later, following a steal by Cameron Winston (Freeport, N.Y. / Pomfret School), Greg Tyler laid it in for the 63-61 lead. A Charger three swung the lead back to Lancaster, but a pair of free throws by Tyler had the lead back to Keuka, 65-64 with 1:58 left. Overall in the game, Greg Tyler was 5-5 from the free throw line. Tyler made a layup that was quickly answered by a Lancaster layup as the game entered the final minute. Lancaster Bible was able to get to the line, but they missed both free throws with 35 seconds left to play. At the other end of the floor, Keuka missed a pair of free throws, giving Lancaster the ball with 28 seconds left and Keuka leading 67-66. The Chargers worked their offense and took a jumper with eight seconds left. The ball went long, but was grabbed by Lancaster, who took a timeout with four seconds left to play. Their final attempt, a driving layup, fell off the rim as Keuka College defeated Lancaster Bible College 67-66.