Langhorne, PA - With under three minutes to play in the first-half and the Immaculata Mighty Macs leading 41-24 over Cairn men's basketball, Highlanders' head coach Jason O'Connell turned to his bench to supply some energy for the final 2:32 of the first-half. The bench did just that, cutting the Mighty Macs lead to 41-31 at the break and providing a spark for the team. Cairn eventually held a two-point lead with under eight minutes left, but the Mighty Macs came back to take the game by a 77-61 final.
 
That spark from late in the first-half turned into much more as the second-half progressed. The Highlanders' bench brought them all the way back into the game and eventually gave the home-team a lead. With just one starter appearing in the second-half, the Highlanders took a lead behind the grit and determination of their bench.
 
Just over the midway point of the second-half the Highlanders completely shifted the momentum. Eric Jacobs made a pair of threes from the left-wing on consecutive possessions and Josh Decker followed with a three of his own. With the trio of triples, the Highlanders took their first lead since it was 2-0, 19 seconds into the game.
 
After Decker's three the Highlanders held a 56-54 advantage with 7:59 remaining. While the Highlanders held the lead for only a short amount of time, Cairn's scrappiness was on display throughout the entirety of the second-half.
 
Immaculata countered with a 17-1 run that gave them the lead back for good. Cairn could not climb out the large hole for a second time and fell by a 77-61 final.
 
In the game, Cairn used all 15 active players. Jeremiah Harris (27 minutes) was the lone starter to play more than 15 minutes on the afternoon. Harris finished with a team-high 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Twelve different Highlanders scored at least one bucket in the contest.
 
The Highlanders received meaning contributions from nearly everyone in their line-up on Saturday. Six different players scored career-highs in the game including, Jacobs (8 points), Decker (8), Jordan Koczman (6), Garrett Burch (4), Tyler Carrier (3), and Regis Peacock (2).
 
Overall the bench accounted for 41 of Cairn's 61 points in the contest.
 
While the Highlanders took care of the ball on Saturday with only 12 turnovers, Cairn struggled to execute and make shots. In the game they shot their worst free-throw percentage (.462) on the season and their fourth-worst mark from the field (.353) and beyond the arc (.259).
 
Despite their struggles shooting the ball on Saturday, the Highlanders will take away the energy and enthusiasm that they played with throughout the second-half.
 
The Highlanders will look to carry that energy into their next game on Wednesday when they travel to Rosemont to take on the Ravens at 8:00 p.m.