Langhorne, PA - The Highlanders of Cairn University made a ferocious second half comeback, only to let it slip away on Wednesday night against non-conference Penn St.-Berks.
Box Score
After trailing by 11 at halftime, and as much as 16 in the first half, the Highlanders shot out of the gates to start the second half and quickly eroded the Lions lead. Using a hosts of attacking options, Cairn outsscored Penn St.-Berks 20-6 in the opening six minutes of the half to go from a 43-32 deficit at halftime to take a 52-49 lead at the 13:50 mark.
The visiting Lions, recovering from the shock of losing their double-digit lead so quickly, responded in kind with a 17-4 run of their own to swing momentum back in their direction.
In the course of a wild 11 minutes, the Highlanders found themselves down by 11 points, up by 3 points, and trailing again by 10 points. Cairn pulled to within 6 points on three different occassions down the final stretch, but that was as close as they would get to repeating their earlier comeback.
Free-throws helped Penn St.-Berks finish on top 84-72.
Senior guard
Charles Hopkins had a game-high 18 points, his fourth straight game with 18 or more points. For his third straight double-double,
Reuben Lacy finished with 15 points and tying for a game-high 11 rebounds with his brother
Barron Lacy.
Aaron Stovall shot 50% from the floor, going 6-for-12 including 3-of-6 from deep.
Four different Lions finished in double digits, led by Jeff Schmidt (17), Dameon Noxin (15), Dontez Reid (14), and Darren Major (12) coming off the bench.
Penn St.-Berks is now 9-10 overall.
Cairn slips to 1-18 overall.
This Saturday, the Highlanders will get a chance to notch their first conference win when they host perennial Gwynedd-Mercy at the Mason Activity Center at 2pm. GMC won the first meeting this season 84-45.
