James Keatings' second-half brace helped Hibernian defeat Livingston 2-1 to close the gap on Scottish Championship leaders Rangers to two points.Keatings opened the scoring seven minutes after half-time and added another midway through the second half, and - although Jordyn Sheerin pulled one back for the visitors late on - Hibs held on to stretch their winning run to eight matches in all competitions.The home side started strongly and could have gone ahead when Jason Cummings rounded Livi goalkeeper Marc McCallum, only to shoot into the side netting from a narrow angle.John McGinn saw his strike saved by McCallum following Darren McGregor's knock down although at the other end Kieran Gibbons thumped over from the edge of the area.Mark Oxley had to be alert at the start of the second half to keep out Myles Hippolyte's effort before Hibs took a 52nd-minute lead when Keatings latched onto McGinn's through ball to finish low under McCallum.McCallum saved well from McGinn shortly after but there was nothing he could do to deny Keatings in the 69th minute, with the striker curling into the corner of the net from the edge of the box.Sheerin pulled one back three minutes from time after firing home from fellow substitute Liam Buchanan's cut back.But it proved too little, too late as Hibs held on to record their 12th win from their last 13 matches in all competitions.