La Plume, PA (3-3-06) - Tom Murphy netted 15 points and Trevor Deeter added a double-double as Albright College held Keystone College to just 32.9% shooting from the field as the Lions advanced to the championship game of the ECAC Division III Southern men's Basketball Championship with a 67-58 victory.
Albright will play the winner of the Pitt-Greensburg/Penn State Behrend game on Saturday at 1:00pm at Keystone College.
Murphy, who was 7-11 from the field for the game scored eight of his game high 15 in the second half. Deeter put in 13 point while pulling in a game high 17 rebounds, 13 of which came on the offensive end. The Lions Greg Conroy connected on three three-pointers, all in the second half to finish with ten points.
Robert Cash led the way for Keystone with 14 points, while Tunde Ogunleye chipped in with 12. Keystone's leading scorer Darnell Reed was kept off balance all night by the Lions defense as Reed scored only seven points, coming on 2-15 shooting form the field, including just 1-6 from beyond the arch.
The Giants and Lions traded buckets early on with Albright building an early five point advantage. With 13:20 left to play in the opening half Keystone's Darnell Reed hit a three-pointer to knot the score at 13, that would be the closest that the Giants would get the rest of the way.
Deeter and Albert Medoro paced Albright over the final ten minutes of the opening half as the Lions went into the break with a 29-25 lead.
Albright came out hot in the second half extending the lead to 13 with twelve minutes to play thanks in part to the outside shooting of Conroy and the inside presence of Deeter. Albright reached their largest lead of the night at 14 with just under nine minutes to play. Every time Keystone got the Lions lead under into single digits Albright would turn back the Keystone tide to keep the Giants at bay. The Giants managed to cut the lead to six with three minutes to play but back to back jumpers by Deeter and Murphy ended any hopes of a Keystone rally.
Besides trying to overcome a strong Albright pressure, the Giants did not do much to help their cause shooting only 14% (3-21) from beyond the arch and a dismal 39% (9-23) from the free throw line. Albright overcame 21 turnovers in the victory. Reed led Keystone with seven boards and five steals.
Keystone finishes their season at 22-7 while Albright improves to 18-9
Newspaper Box Score ALBM vs KEY-MBB 03/03/06 5:30pm at Keystone College, La Plume, PA At Keystone College, La Plume, PA ALBM 67, KEY-MBB 58 ALBM (18-9) Tom Murphy 7-11 0-0 15; Trevor Deeter 6-8 0-0 13; Greg Conroy 3-5 1-2 10; Kyle Brudvig 3-7 2-2 8; Albert Medoro 2-4 2-2 6; Matt Kieselowsky 0-4 5-9 5; Lee Walter 2-5 0-2 4; Derek Kehoe 1-2 1-1 3; Taylor Steltz 0-2 3-4 3; Andy Winebrenner 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 14-22 67. KEY-MBB (22-7) Cash, Robert 7-12 0-4 14; Ogunleye, Tunde 4-11 2-6 12; Dennis, Rashawn 3-5 2-2 8; Reed, Darnell 2-15 2-5 7; Edwards, Charles 2-10 1-2 5; Spence, Marcus 2-6 0-0 4; Brown, Harry 2-3 0-0 4; Stone, Andre 1-6 0-0 2; Murrille, Mark 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 23-70 9-23 58. ALBM.......................... 29 38 - 67 KEY-MBB....................... 25 33 - 58 3-point goals-ALBM 5-13 (Greg Conroy 3-5; Trevor Deeter 1-1; Tom Murphy 1-3; Matt Kieselowsky 0-1; Taylor Steltz 0-1; Andy Winebrenner 0-2), KEY-MBB 3-21 (Ogunleye, Tunde 2-6; Reed, Darnell 1-6; Edwards, Charles 0-3; Spence, Marcus 0-2; Stone, Andre 0-3; Murrille, Mark 0-1). Fouled out--ALBM-None, KEY-MBB-None. Rebounds-ALBM 47 (Trevor Deeter 17), KEY-MBB 43 (Reed, Darnell 7). Assists-ALBM 13 (Matt Kieselowsky 6), KEY-MBB 9 (Reed, Darnell 3; Dennis, Rashawn 3). Total fouls-ALBM 21, KEY-MBB 22. ECAC Division III Southern men's Basketball Championship Semi-Final #1 Albright advances to title game