Langhorne, PA - The Cairn Highlanders trailed the visiting Gwynedd Mercy Griffins by just six points at half-time, but the Griffins doubled up the Highlanders 42-21 in the second-half en route to a 83-56 victory over Cairn in the Mason Activity Center on Wednesday night. Five Griffins scored in double-figures in a balanced scoring effort for the defending CSAC Champions.

Julian Collazo led the Highlanders with a game-high 17 points, but it wasn't enough as the Griffins took control of the game with a 23-9 run to start the second-half. That run put the visitors up 20 and they never looked back winning by a 27-point margin.

It wasn't all Griffins, all night. The Highlanders held as much as a six-point lead in the first-half a two occasions. With a three by JD Zamroz, the Highlanders went up 13-7 early in the first-half and then with 10:59 remaining in the first-half Julian Collazo hit a jumper to put the Highlanders up six again at 21-15.

That lead dissipated quickly as the Griffins went on an 11-0 run after Collazo's bucket. When the run ended Gwynedd Mercy held a 26-21 lead with 7:50 remaining in the half. A jumper by Brennan Addley momentarily halted the push for the Griffins, but Gwynedd Mercy kept their foot on the gas with 11 of the next 15 points to extend their lead to double-digits at 37-27.

Cairn battled to close the gap over the final three-plus minutes and a Collazo just before the half-time buzzer cut the deficit to 41-35 at the break.

The opening minutes of the second-half were a back-and-forth battle with the Highlanders hanging around. Cairn stayed within seven after a three from Zachary Dolton made it a 47-40 game less than four minutes into the half. After the trey, the Griffins slammed the door on the Highlanders with a 6:38 run that pushed their lead to 20-points at 64-44.

Cairn tried to claw their way back with four-straight points to close the gap to 64-48, but they could not get any closer as the Griffins closed the game on a 19-8 run to win 83-56 and lock up their fourth-straight victory to open the season.

In the game, Gwynedd Mercy senior, Cedric Elleby collected his 1,000th career point with a lay-up early in the second-half.

While Cairn did clean up a majority of their turnover problems from their first three games (eight turnovers tonight vs. 17.7 turnovers per game in first three games), the Highlanders struggled from the field. Cairn shot 37.3% (19-51) in the game including a 31.8% (7-22) mark in the second-half.

In the game, Gwynedd Mercy won the rebounding battle 38-23.

Cairn will next take the court on Saturday afternoon when they host Clarks Summit, tip-off slated for 3:00 p.m.