The Keuka College Men’s Basketball team earned a 65-63 victory Empire 8 victory over SUNY Poly on Friday night at the JMW Recreation and Athletics Center.
Keuka College (8-14, 5-9 Empire 8) was led by Marcus Reed (Queens, N.Y. / Our Saviour Lutheran) with 16 points. Jaden Keasey (Newport News, Va. / Menchville) and Amar Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Frederick Douglas Academy) added 11 and 10 points for the Wolves while also leading in rebounding. Jackson led the Wolves with nine boards and Keasey was right behind him with eight.
The visiting Wildcats built an early eight-point lead over the Wolves, but Keuka College responded with a run. Marcus Reed grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed free throw and Akinlana Popoola (Cleveland, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) beat SUNY Poly down the floor with a driving layup to tie the game at 15-15. Marcus Reed followed with a three as Keuka’s run reached 11 points, but the Wolves were not done. Keuka College held SUNY Poly scoreless for over five minutes as the Wolves scored 14 unanswered to take a 21-15 lead. Keuka played with the lead for the rest of the half. The Green and Gold took a nine-point lead in the final seconds on a cutting layup by Jaden Keasey. SUNY Poly hit a three on the final possession of the half, but the Wolves led 34-28 at the break.
The Wolves pushed their lead out to eight in the first five minutes of the season half, but SUNY Poly would battle to cut in the Keuka advantage and eventually tied the game at 52-52 with nine minutes left to play. Two more free throws a minute later gave the Wildcats the lead, but Akinlana Popoola answered back with a three for the Wolves to regain a 55-54 lead. That sparked an 8-0 run for Keuka. The stretch was capped by a defensive effort by Amar Jackson with a block. Jackson then found Quinn VanKerkhove (Irondequoit, N.Y. / Irondequoit) for the transition three to make it 60-54 with 5:57 left to play. SUNY Poly answered back again and a three gave them a one-point lead with three minutes remaining. The Wolves played some tight defense and held SUNY Poly off the board for the next three minutes. Keuka was able to work the lead up to 64-61 with a minute left in the game. A basket by SUNY Poly cut the Keuka lead to one. A turnover gave the ball back to the visitors. Keuka’s defense withstood multiple attempts to take the lead, but Jaden Keasey eventually grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled. Keasey went 1-2 from the line to make a two-point game. As the Wildcats got the rebound and raced up the court, Amar Jackson stripped the ball for the steal to secure the 65-63 victory.
· Keuka College snapped their four-game losing streak to SUNY Poly. The Wolves are now 10-27 all-time against the Wildcats with eight of the ten wins coming at home
· Marcus Reed added six rebounds to go with his team-high 16 points
· Akinlana Popoola finished with nine points but helped facilitate the offense with four assists for the Wolves
· The Wolves are feeling the love and have now won three straight on Valentine’s Day
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