Box Score

Langhorne, PA - The Highlanders took a 30-27 lead into halftime but couldn't make it last Saturday afternoon against rivals Baptist Bible College.

Cairn University surged to an early 8-3 lead before the Defenders of BBC knotted things up at 8-8. With just over three minutes remaining in the first half, the Highlanders tied their largest lead of the day at five, 27-22. A pair of layups by Baptist Bible and a free-throw quickly tied things back up at 27-27, but with 1:48 left on the clock, Cairn's Chase Brunner nailed one of his two 3-pointers on the day to give the Highlanders the three point lead they had heading into the break.

Whatever was said to them at halftime worked, as Baptist Bible came out with renewed purposed in the second half. An 11-1 run in the opening 3:11 of the half saw the Defenders not only overcome their three point deficit, but grab a seven point lead of their own. Cairn would eventually wake up, pulling things back to within 4 points on two separate occassions but that was as close as they would get to regaining the lead.

The Highlanders kept themselves within striking distance until the final minutes. The Cairn pressure was meant to force turnovers but instead, with a few unlucky bounces, lead to easy BBC buckets. Baptist also went a perfect 8 for 8 in free-throws inside the final two minutes, securing their 6th win of the season and 4th in conference play. In the end, Cairn fell 78-64.

Baptist Bible held a 22-10 advantage in points in the paint, while Cairn received more offense from its bench, 15-8.

Charles Hopkins was a big reason for the Highlanders first half lead, as the junior guard finished with a game-high 23 points going 9 of 19 from the floor and 4 of 7 from range. Chase Brunner was second on the team with 10 points. Barron Lacy grabbed 9 rebounds and 6 points in the defeat. Aaron Stovall tallied 8 points to go with 6 assists, while Kyle Bonner also had 8 points and 5 assists.

Four different Defenders reached double figures, led by Luke Peterson with 19. Jordan Greve (18), Abe Valentine (15), and Dan Dodd (10) rounded out the others.

The Highlanders have just two games left on their schedule. A non-conference match-up with Valley Forge Christian College is next on the calendar. The game is slated for Monday, February 11 at 8pm in the Mason Activity Center.