Langhorne, PA – Cairn University hosted the University of Valley Forge on Monday evening and defeated the Patriots 81-72 in the non-conference game. The Highlanders avenged last year's loss of 77-72 in overtime; played at Valley Forge.
JD Zamroz played his best game, and half, of the season by shooting 7-7 overall and 6-6 from the three-point line. In the first 20 minutes he scored 17 of those points, when his previous game-high this season was 16 points.
Kyle Bonner followed Zamroz by scoring 17 points (7-14), while
Gerroid Doughty II scored 16 and
Julian Collazo had 14. Collazo also led the team in rebounds with nine.
Zamroz got the team going early on by scoring nine of the team's first 11 points, which tied the game at 11-11. The Patriots were then able to take their largest lead of the game with the score at 22-13.
The Highlanders came surging back from there with a 7-0 run and had the momentum on their side. By the 8:17 mark, Cairn tied the game at 30-30 on another Zamroz three.
Cairn took the lead with 5:39 left in the first half and increased it to as many as five before the half was over. Valley Forge was able to cut the deficit to one heading into halftime but was unable to get off a shot in the final seconds that would have given them the lead.
Overall, Valley Forge was led by Thorne McIntosh with 15 points, followed by Jerome Staley and Devin Williams with 14 each. Four players were tied with five rebounds each.
Coming out of the break, Cairn went on a 5-0 run and eventually grew their lead to 10 with just under nine minutes to go. Unfortunately, the Highlanders then turned the ball over on the next two possessions, giving the Patriots fast break layups.
Valley Forge started a 9-0 run with those layups and eventually took the lead, 72-70, with 4:34 on the clock. Doughty then made two free throws to tie the game followed by Zamroz's only three of the second half to take the lead 75-72.
Cairn controlled the game from there to the end without allowing another point from the Valley Forge team. The Patriots dropped to 2-11 overall with the result.
The Highlanders improved to 7-8 overall with the win. Cairn will return to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 20, when they travel to Gwynedd Mercy University to take on the league-leaders.
