LA PLUME — Penn College snapped a six-game slide and picked up its first United East men’s basketball victory with an 80-77 victory at Keystone on Wednesday evening. The Wildcats improved to 1-2 in the conference and 2-12 overall while the Giants dropped to 1-3 UEC, 3-12 overall.

The Wildcats poured in 48 second-half points to erase a 10-point halftime deficit and secure the victory. Peyton Murphy’s three to start the second half ignited an 18-7 run by the Wildcats to grab a 50-49 lead with 15 minutes left in the game. Murphy scored eight points while Landon Reeder and Octavio Alexander scored four points and Jay Henry added a layup in the run.

Keystone responded with a run of their own to knot the game at 57 with 11 minutes to go, but another timely Murphy long-range basket stalled the run and mount a 13-1 run to help the Wildcats gain their largest lead of the night (70-61) capped by a Cydae Joseph-Davis bucket with 6:20 to go which provided enough of a cushion for the Wildcats to stay ahead for good.

Murphy was all over the floor as he turned in a season-high 17 points and eight rebounds with four assists, three steals and a block in the victory.

Alexander finished with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting and dished out a team-high seven assists. Jay Henry (12), Owen Newcomer (10) and Landon Reeder (10) all finished in double-digits to lead the Wildcats offense.

Penn College’s defense racked up nine steals and eight blocks to hold the Giants to 36% shooting (27-72). The Wildcats shot 49% (33-67) and outscored the Giants in the paint, 50-28.

Penn College 80, Keystone 77

PENN COLLEGE (2-12, 1-2 UE)

Peyton Murphy 7-11 0-0 17, Octavio Alexander 6-9 2-2 14, Jay Henry 4-11 4-8 12, Owen Newcomer 4-10 0-0 10, Landon Reeder 4-8 2-4 10, Cydae Joseph-Davis 4-7 0-0 8, Josh Shepherd 2-6 1-2 5, Colby Bost 1-2 0-0 2, Hunter Hoy 1-2 0-0 2, Neyshawn Mabry 0-1 0-0 0, Kris Hayes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-67 9-16 80.

KEYSTONE (3-12, 1-3 UE)

PJ Murphy 5-14 4-4 17, Ahmodrion Jones 5-16 3-6 14, Jden Golden 4-15 3-4 11, Kamdyn Ayers 4-7 1-2 9, Demetrius Thomas 2-4 1-1 5, Tyler Ditton 5-10 1-2 14, Conor Patton 1-1 2-2 4, Derek Rivera 1-2 0-0 3, Jeramiah Maxwell-Lawus 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 27-72 15-23 77.

Halftime: Keystone 45-32. 3-point goals: PCT 5-16 (Murphy 3-4, Newcomer 2-7, Mabry 0-1, Hoy 0-1, Shepherd 0-3), Keystone 8-22 (Murphy 3-7, Ditton 3-8, Rivera 1-2, Jones 1-3, Golding 0-2). Fouled out: PCT-none; Keystone-none. Rebounds: PCT 43 (Murphy 8), Keystone 38 (Thomas 9). Assists: PCT 19 (Alexander 7), Keystone 16 (Golding 5). Technical fouls: PCT-none; Keystone-none. Total fouls: PCT 19, Keystone 16. A: 45.