Langhorne, PA - Cairn University men's basketball opened their home, and conference slate for 2014-15 with a loss to Centenary College 68-52.
Reuben Lacy and
JD Zamroz led the team with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Highlanders trailed by just one at the half, but could not close the gap against the Cyclones on Monday night in the Mason Activity Center. Cairn was outscored 43-28 in the final 20 minutes; in part by Centenary's 74% shooting from the free throw line. A total 20 points were scored from the charity stripe by the Cyclones in the second half.
Cairn stuck to their defensive game and disrupted the Cyclones' offensive game throughout. Only five baskets were made from the floor by Centenary's starters.
The first half worked in the Highlanders' favor with
JD Zamroz and
Don Sloan able to penetrate the Cyclones' defense. Both Zamroz and Sloan went 3-5 from the field and made one shot from beyond the arc. Zamroz' three tied the game for Highlanders at 11-11 with 12:42 left to play before halftime.
Darnell Clowney entered the game for the highlanders at the 8:30 mark and gave the team an added spark with a swift drive from the left side and a layup in front of the basket.
Omar Askia made a similar play four minutes later to keep the game close at 19-18. Cairn then took the lead with under two minutes to play in the half with two good free throws by Askia.
Sloan gave the lead back to Cairn at 24-23 but two good free throws by Paul Jones gave the lead back to Centenary before the end of the half. Jones ended the game with 11 total points with five coming from the free throw line.
Centenary opened up an eight-point lead after coming out of half time but Cairn closed the gap to three after a good follow-up play by
Azariah Parmer. However, the Cyclones stretched their lead back out to eight by the mid-way point and never looked back. Centenary converted on too many free throws for the Highlanders to come back in the game.
Cairn will look to improve their play when they travel to Swarthmore College this Saturday, Nov. 29, for a game at 3:00 p.m. Centenary improved to 2-3 with the win and started conference play 1-0.
