Phoenixville, PA – The Cairn men's basketball team completed their non-conference slate with a contest against the Valley Forge Patriots on Monday night. The Highlanders struggled in the second-half and fell short against the Patriots 78-67.
 
Zachary Dolton recorded his third career double-double with a solid 22 points and 15 rebounds in the loss. Dolton's 22 points led the Highlanders and is his second-most in a single game this season. Gerroid Doughty II went for 12 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Highlanders.
 
Cairn got off to a strong start in the first-half and held as much as a 12-point lead 10 minutes into the contest at 20-8. The early success came from Doughty, Dolton, JD Zamroz, and Jeremiah Harris each scoring at least four points.
 
After a Zamroz layup put Cairn up by 12, the Patriots started a 25-3 run over the next five minutes to take a 25-23 lead.
 
Two minutes later, the Highlanders trailed 32-29 before Doughty buried a triple off a pass from Josh Decker to tie the game at 32-32. That three started a 13-1 run to end the half and give Cairn the 42-33 lead at the half.
 
After the half, Dolton made a layup on Cairn's first possession of the second-half to extend the Cairn lead to 11. Valley Forge responded once again with a strong run and took a 45-44 lead less than four minutes into the half.
 
The Highlanders hung around and held a six-point lead after Dolton battled through contact and finished a layup with 12:05 remaining in the game. Dolton completed the three-point play and Cairn led 54-48. After the and-one finish, it was all Valley Forge. The Patriots took a lead with a three from Jalen Archer with just under 10 minutes remaining and never gave it back.
 
Valley Forge ended the game on a 30-13 run over the final 12:05 of play to take down the Highlanders by a final of 78-67.
 
The loss drops the Highlanders to 5-16 on the season and they will next take the floor on Wednesday when they travel to Cabrini to take on the Cavs at 8:00 p.m.