Clarks Summit, PA - The Cairn men's basketball team fought back and erased a seven-point half-time deficit to defeat the Clarks Summit Defenders 85-81 on Saturday afternoon. Jeremiah Harris doubled his previous career-high with 28 points in the victory on an impressive 8-10 effort from the field and a perfect 9-9 mark from the charity stripe. Gerroid Doughty II joined Harris in double figures with 17 points and eight other Highlanders scored in the victory.
 
Cairn scored 52 second-half points in the victory and trailed by eight points with three minutes remaining. Down 77-69, Harris put through a layup with exactly three minutes on the clock and was fouled in the process. After knocking down the free throw and an offensive foul by the Defenders, Harris stepped up and drained a three to bring Cairn within two with 2:25 remaining. After a pair of Clarks Summit free throws and a layup by Doughty, Zachary Dolton drained a deep three to give Cairn an 80-79 lead with under a minute to play.
 
In the final 52 second the Highlanders connected on five of their six free throws to seal the 84-81 victory.
 
The opening minutes of Saturday's contest looked more like a three-point contest than a basketball game. The Highlanders and Defenders each hit three triples in the first 2:06 of the game to bring the score level in the early going. For Cairn it was JD Zamroz with a three and Gerroid Doughty II with a pair of treys.
 
A layup from Chris Uhrich ended the three-point barrage but gave Cairn a two-point lead. That lead was quick nullified with a 5-0 run by the Defenders. After the short run, Clarks Summit continued to hold a modest lead between one and five points for the next 10 minutes.
 
With Cairn down by one, Doughty knocked down a three to give Cairn the 28-26 lead with 5:15 remaining in the half. The Defenders shook off the setback with a 14-5 run to end the half and take a 40-33 lead into the break.
 
Two quick buckets after the half extended the Defenders lead to 11 points. Cairn responded with a 13-0 run that spanned three minutes and gave the Highlanders a 48-46 lead. On the run, Harris put through eight points, including two separate three-point plays to lead Cairn.
 
Still trailing by two, 51-49, the Defenders put together an 11-2 run to retake the lead at 60-53. Eric Jacobs scored the lone bucket for the Highlanders during the run off a dish from Chris Uhrich. A layup by Doughty ended the run with 9:31 remaining and brought Cairn within five at 60-55
 
The Defenders grew their lead to as many as eight points with a 63-55 advantage with 8:54 remaining in the contest and held that same, eight-point lead with three minutes remaining before the Highlanders ended the game on a 16-4 run in the final three minutes.
 
The 85-81 victory moves the Highlanders to 4-14 overall and 2-10 in the CSAC. Cairn will next take the floor on Wednesday when they travel to Gwynedd Mercy to take on the Griffins at 8:00 p.m.