La Plume, PA - After being honored prior to Monday night's game, Keystone College senior men's basketball player Alex Smith (Floyd, NY/Holland Patent ) turned in an outstanding game, dishing out a career-high seven assists to lead the Giants to a 74-68 victory over Marywood University as the Giants clinched a berth in the upcoming Colonial States Athletic Conference playoffs.  Keystone improves to 11-13 overall on the season and 8-9 in league play with their win, which coupled with Centenary College's loss to Gwynedd Mercy University, gives the Giants their sixth CSAC playoff bid in as many years since joining the conference.
 
Keystone trailed Monday evening's contest, 62-53 with 4:59 remaining in regulation before using a 17-2 tear to rally back to the lead as the Giants then held on for the six-point victory after tying for a season-high with 14 made three-pointers in the contest.
 
Keystone came out clicking on all cylinders, jumping out to a 19-7 lead just under five and half minutes into the game.  Marywood (9-15, 5-12 CSAC) battled back and eventually took a 29-27 lead with 5:59 remaining in the opening half and would outscored the Giants 10-2 the rest of the period to take a 39-29 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
 
Shane Kellaher led the Pacers with 15 points in the opening 20 minutes of play while Matthew Clark pulled down six rebounds for Marywood, who shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first half including a hot, 66.7 percent from three-point range while going 5-7 from the free throw line.
 
Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) paced Keystone's offense with 12 points in the opening stanza while Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) added eight points and four rebounds in the half.  Rashaud Kelley (Farrell, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) also snagged four boards in the half for the Giants, who connected on 34.4 percent of their field goal attempts in the half while going 7-23 from beyond the arc.
 
Keystone scored the first 13 points of the second half, taking a 42-39 lead on a trey by Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) at the 14:06 mark.  Marywood briefly tied the game before Candemeres again hit from downtown.  With the hosts ahead 49-46  with 9:43 remaining in regulation, the Pacers used a 14-2 burst to build a 60-51 lead with 6:41 showing on the clock. 
 
With the visitors leading by nine at the 4:59 mark, Keystone used a 13-2 run to go back in front for good, 66-64, with 2:07 remaining after Lunsford knocked down his sixth three-pointer of the contest.  From there, the Giants yielded just four more points while going 9-10 from the free throw line to close out the win and punch their ticket to the postseason.
 
Lunsford led all players with 24 points on 8-11 shooting including a 6-7 effort from three-point land while leading the team with eight rebounds.  Candemeres ended the night with 16 points, Dargan netted 15 points, and DaVaughn Thomas (Port Arthur, TX/Silsbee) scored 10 points in the win for the Giants, who finished the night shooting 46.4 percent from the floor, 40 percent from beyond the arc, and 66.7 from the free throw line.
 
Smith was instrumental in the win on his Senior Night, controlling play from his guard position and dishing out a game-high seven assists while knocking down his only shot attempt of the night, a three-pointer in the first half. 
 
Kellaher led Marywood with 23 points and five assists while Clark added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Shane Letthand also scored 14 points for the Pacers, who got 10 points from Ryan Corrigan.    The visitors finished the night hitting on 45.6 percent of their field goal attempts while going 42.9 percent from downtown and 53.8 percent from the line. 
 
Keystone will close out the regular season on Wednesday evening when they travel to Radnor, PA to take on Cabrini College, who are ranked #6 in the nation, in a matchup that will help determine the Giants' postseason seed.