Box Score
LANGHORNE, PA – It was same old, same old for the visitors Tuesday evening.
The golden jewel of the conference a year ago, Cabrini College made an early-season case Tuesday that - despite the new year - they’re still the team to beat in the CSAC. The Cavaliers handled the Crimson Eagles in relatively easy fashion, downing PBU by a 71-32 count.
Facing a group that went 16-2 in conference action and participated in the prestigious NCAA III national tournament a year ago, PBU found out early Tuesday why the Cavaliers are so highly regarded.
Cabrini utilized a distinct size advantage (their roster features seven players that are 5’10 or taller) to pound and wear down the host group, bullying PBU into 27 turnovers for the game – including 18 in the opening 20 minutes – to run away with their third, and biggest, win of the season.
A devastating one for 17 effort from beyond the arc didn’t help PBU’s cause as Cabrini forced the Crimson Eagles into a paltry overall mark of 18.4 percent shooting for the game. When the final horn sounded, the Cavaliers also held significant advantages in assists (20-6), blocks (5-0), and steals (18-7).
Securing what ended up being their only lead of the game by going up 2-0 in the opening minutes, PBU would surrender the following 12 points to go into an early 10 point hole.
Unfortunately, the devastating run was tell-tale sign of things to come.
PBU kept the spread at 17-7 with 11:05 remaining in the opening period, but a second offensive barrage from the visitors would cue a 15-2 run to push the difference to 32-9 with 3:23 left. The Crimson Eagles would manage six grind-it-out points in the final minutes, leaving PBU in a 35-15 hole during the intermission.
In dire need of an offensive outburst, the Crimson Eagle scoring unit failed to generate any type of consistency early in the second period. Instead, Cabrini’s edge would soon swell to as great as 34 (59-25) halfway through the second stanza sparked by an eight for 10 effort from the field during the opening eight minutes of the half. The Cavaliers would eventually push the margin to 39 by the time the final horn expired.
In an extremely well-balanced attack, fifteen different Cabrini players found the scoring column with only a single Cavalier reaching double-figures. Facing a PBU team that was ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense a year ago and that came into the contest limiting teams to 35.2 percent shooting, Cabrini went off, hitting at a 47.5 percent clip for the game from the field.
Junior Lindsey Fornwalt led the host squad with 11 points on four of five shooting while junior guard Dani Norton, who came into the contest averaging 25 points per game, was limited to just eight points and eight boards.
PBU falls to 2-3 (1-1 CSAC) with the loss while Cabrini improves to 3-1 (1-0 CSAC).
On Friday, the Crimson Eagles will host Grace Bible College (3-4) during the opening night of the Chick-fil-A Christmas Classic, taking on the Tigers at 6:00 pm. A win would put the team in the championship contest on Saturday at 5:00 pm against the victor of Kentucky Christian University and D’Youville College (1-4), while a loss would give PBU a 1:00 pm tip-off time in the consolation game.
