Keyser defeated in holiday tournament, 74-71

Unversity 74, Keyser 71
MORGANTOWN - University High school attempted 35 free throws to Keyser’s eight and won by three, 74-71, in the opening round of its’ holiday tourney in Morgantown Monday night.
“It wasn’t the officiating,” said Keyser head coach Gary Liston referring to the discrepancy from the free throw line, “They just outhustled and outsmarted us. If you are going to live by the jump shot, you might die by it too.”
It was a stat line that might make basketball fan scratch his head.
Keyser out-rebounded University 42-18 and made six more field goals (30) that included more 3-point shots (8) than the homestanding team, but still lost.
“You don’t get a lot of attempts from the line shooting from distance, and obviously we didn’t drive the ball,” said Liston.
Keyser was hot from the perimeter initially and was able to stay with University behind Wes Stalenberger’s trio of treys and trailed by a bucket, 18-16, after a period of play.
Keyser rallied and went up by as many as 11 in the second stanza, but fell off the pace and was down by seven at the half.
Matt Wilmer scored all of his 12 points in the second half as Keyser stayed close and tied the game with 43 seconds to play, but University converted when Keyser was forced to foul to seal the victory.
Jeremy Green led the locals with 26 points, Prston Hartman added 13 points and 11 rebounds for Keyser.
Keyser will play James Wood out of Winchester, Va at 4:15 pm in the consolation game.