Langhorne, PA - The Cairn Highlanders kicked off the 2016-17 season in dramatic fashion with a 98-92 victory over the visiting Penn State - Lehigh Valley Nittany Lions in front of a packed house in the Mason Activity Center. Gerroid Doughty II and Julian Collazo each poured in 22 points to lead the Highlanders in their season opener. Brennan Addley (13 points) and Seil Park (10 points) both joined the backcourt tandem in double-digits.

The Highlanders took a 50-44 lead into half-time, but over the first 90 seconds of the second-half that lead evaporated and the score stood even at 50-50. The Nittany Lions eventually took the lead at 54-53 before a jumper by Doughty gave the lead back to the Highlanders with 16:13 remaining in regulation.

After retaking the lead at 55-54, Cairn would stay in the driver's seat the rest of the way. The Highlanders' advantage stood relatively firm between four and eight points for a majority of the second-half. However the Nittany Lions trimmed the lead to as few as two points with 23 seconds remaining.

Holding a slim 94-92 lead, Brennan Addley made a lay-up in transition to push the lead back to four. A pair of free throws by Addley with just seconds on the clock iced it and the Highlanders began the season 1-0 with the exciting 98-92 victory on Thursday night.

As mentioned, the Nittany Lions had to use a little run at the start of the second-half to get back into the game. That run was necessary because of a six-point half-time lead in favor of the Highlanders.

That half-time advantage could have been more as Cairn led by double-digits on five different occasions in the first-half. Cairn led by as many as 10-points with 3:02 remaining in the half after Zachary Jackson connected on a pair of free-throws. That lead was trimmed down by an 8-4 run for the Nittany Lions.

In the first-half, Julian Collazo led the way with 13 points and a 4-7 mark from the floor for the Highlanders. Jeremiah Harris made an impact off the bench in the first 20 minutes with eight points. Harris entered the game five minutes into the contest and immediately grabbed a rebound and hit a three to put the Highlanders up three at 16-13.

Another unsung hero in the contest was Seil Park, who's efficient evening from the floor (5-7) helped the Highlanders on a number of key possessions in the second-half. While Seil's evening was cut short due to fouls, he made an impact in his 14 minutes on the floor with 10 points, three rebounds and a block.

In the game, Cairn shot an impressive 44.8% from beyond the arc (13-29) with six different Highlanders made a three including five that made at least two. The Nittany Lions on the other hand struggled from beyond the arc shooting just 13.6% from downtown (3-22).

Penn State - Lehigh Valley did bring a balanced attack with four different players scoring 14-plus points in the contest. Jonathan Biue led the way with 20 points and 18 rebounds for a very impressive double-double.

The 98-92 victory marks the second-straight season that the Highlanders opened the year with a victory. Cairn will look for win number two in as many games when they host Washington College (MD) on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in the Mason Activity Center.