Hackettstown, NJ – The Cairn men's basketball team traveled to Centenary University on Tuesday evening and ended on the wrong-side of a 69-60 decision. The Highlanders struggled throughout most of the first-half and trailed by as many as 13 points, but a strong push to start the second-half brought the Highlanders back within a bucket at 45-43.
 
A three by Gerroid Doughty II at the end of the first-half beat the buzzer and seemed to turn the momentum in the visitors favor. The Highlanders rode that momentum into the early portion of the second-half cutting the deficit to just two points on multiple occasions. The early second-half effort was fueled by a 10-0 Cairn run that spanned 7:04. Chris Uhrich collected the final four points of the run to lead the push.
 
After a jumper by Centenary's Rashaan Spencer ended the run the Cyclones opened up a nine-point lead with a 10-3 run over the next 2:37 to take a 55-46 lead with 9:11 remaining in regulation.
 
The Highlanders shook off the Cyclone run and clawed their way back into the contest yet again. This time it was a 7-0 run that brought Cairn within a bucket yet again. Jeremiah Harris highlighted the run with a left-handed finished on a nifty drive from the top of the key for the final bucket of the run.
 
Harris was fouled on the play, but could not connect on the three-point play. Centenary countered by taking a 59-53 lead thanks to a jumper and a pair of free throws. Doughty pulled Cairn back with a pair of buckets within 40 seconds of each other. Doughty hit a jumper first before finishing with a strong left hand to pull the Highlanders within two points at 59-57.
 
Centenary opened their lead back up with free throws to take a six-point lead. A three-point play by Centenary's Jake Logue with 90 seconds to play put the nail in the coffin as the Cyclones took an eight-point lead. The Cyclones made their free throws down the stretch to secure the 69-60 victory.
 
The beginning of the second-half was a turning point for the Highlanders, but they had put themselves in that position with eight first-half turnovers that resulted in 15 points off turnovers for the Cyclones in the first 20 minutes alone.
 
Centenary used a 13-5 run to claim the first-half momentum. The run spanned 6:14 in the middle of the half and turned a 15-13 game into a 28-18 game in favor of the host Cyclones.
 
Eleven Highlanders saw action in tonight's game with Jeremiah Harris, Seil Park, and Chris Uhrich each seeing 13-plus minutes off the bench. Uhrich scored eight points in 13 minutes and grabbed a pair of boards to highlight the bench's effort in the loss.
 
Doughty led the Highlanders with 16 points, his sixth game this season with at least 16 points. Julian Collazo was the only other double-digit scorer for Cairn, he dropped 12 and grabbed nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double.
 
The Highlanders will continue a busy week when they travel to Immaculata on Thursday, game time is slated for 8:00 p.m. The Highlanders will conclude their week on Saturday when they host national ranked Neumann University at 3:00 p.m. in the Mason Activity Center.