SCRANTON, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball team lost, 77-58, in overtime against non-conference opponent Penn State Altoona University on Saturday evening in the Electric City Classic Championship game, hosted by Marywood University.
 

Cairn (4-2) picked up where it left off on Friday, jetting out to a 9-2 lead over Altoona (4-1) in the first three minutes of the contest. The Lions responded with a 17-10 run over the next seven minutes to tie the game at 19 a-piece. Altoona took its first lead of the contest at the 8:26 mark at 29-27 and held a three-point advantage (32-29) with 7:04 left in the half. The Highlanders responded with a 10-5 run to close out the frame, capped off by a layup by sophomore Tehron Phillips (Philadelphia, PA / The Christian Academy) to take a 39-37 lead into intermission.
 

The Nittany Lions were hitting on all cylinders in the second half, as Cairn struggled to get its offense working against a strong defensive unit and the Lions could not miss, shooting 55.6% (5-9) from beyond the arc in the second half. The Lions scored the first 22 points of the second half and rode that momentum to victory, claiming the Electric City Classic Championship.
 

Altoona out shot Cairn 41.7% (25-60) to 34.8% (24-69) and were lights out from long range (52.9% - 9-17). The Lions narrowly out rebounded Cairn (43-38) in the contest. 
 

Cairn was led by senior Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East) who posted team-highs with 15 points and three assists. Rivera was followed by junior Wes Murray (Reading, PA / Exeter HS) who deposited a career-high 14 points to go along with nine rebounds. Classmate Dashaun Cain (Wilmington, DE / Red Lion Christian Academy) added 12 points while senior Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing HS) added a game-highs with 11 rebounds and four blocks. Clark was Cairn's representative on the All-Tournament Team.
 

Cairn will be back on the court on Tuesday, November 23 when it makes its long-awaited home debut inside the Mason Activity Center against non-conference foe Pratt Institute. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.