LANGHORNE, PA- The Highlanders took the floor Wednesday night against Rosemont College in a pivotal game with CSAC playoff implications at hand. Despite a strong first half, a second half shooting surge led the Ravens over the Highlanders by a final score of 71-62.
Missing several key players with injuries, the Highlanders knew they needed to play nearly flawless basketball in order to take down CSAC powerhouse Rosemont College. In the first half, the Highlanders found their highest gear, stifling the Ravens offense with crippling man to man defense that gave the Ravens offense fits for the entirety of the first half. Surging after loose balls, and cleaning up the glass time and again, the Highlanders took a 29-21 lead into the break courtesy of a deep Seth Brunner three pointer as the first half buzzer sounded.
The second half began in similar fashion, with the Highlanders keeping up their defensive intensity and efficient offense to go on a quick 5-0 run to start the half, and extend their lead to 34-21. With the game quickly slipping out of reach, Rosemont head coach Robert Hughes burned a much needed timeout to collect his troops. Rejuvenated by the brief respite from the Highlanders' hounding defense, the Ravens caught fire from beyond the arc and momentum swung fully into Raven hands after Mekhi Clemons threw down a ferocious dunk to briefly quiet the Cairn Crazies. Shortly after, Clemons came roaring down the floor, drawing contact and getting the bucket to fall and give Rosemont their first lead of the 2nd half. Proving susceptible to second half runs, the Highlanders gave up a 10-1 run to trail by 14 with 3 minutes remaining. Ever resilient, the Highlanders did not roll over, attacking the basket with force, and taking advantage of the charity stripe to stop the clock and stay in the game. Charging down the stretch to bring the game within reach, the Highlanders were undone by the one unassailable opponent, the game clock- simply running out of time and falling by a final score of 71-62.
Despite another agonizingly close loss, the Highlanders can take away a myriad of positives, as their forwards put in outstanding work yet again. The Highlanders received another star-making turn from Antoine Nunnally, as the freshman led the way with 21 points and a career high 17 rebounds, in addition to holding Rosemont stud Jalil Myers to only 5 points. Jordan Koczman was also in double figures with 14 points, and Seth Brunner notched a career high with 11 points (3-6 from long range) in 25 minutes off the bench.
The Highlanders will be back in action on Saturday when they host Keystone College at 3:00 PM.
