LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball team won 78-73, against Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) opponent Bryn Athyn College on Monday evening, maintaining their unbeaten conference record at 3-0.
Bryn Athyn (1-7, 0-2 CSAC) showed Cairn (8-4, 3-0 CSAC) a different look defensively from the opening tip, utilizing full court pressure to cause nine Highlander turnovers within the first 11 minutes, leading to a 16-12 Lions lead with 9:22 left in the first half. That four-point lead was the largest the Lions would have in the half, as Bryn Athyn held a slim 28-27 advantage at intermission.
In the second half, the Highlanders started to figure out the Lions' full-court pressure, going on an 8-3 run to start the half, capped off by a ferocious, one-handed slam by junior
Josh Forker (Telford, PA / Faith Christian) to give Cairn a 35-31 lead.
The Lions responded with their own 6-2 run on two three-pointers to knot the game at 37-37 with 16:34 left to play. Both teams continued to trade leads and were again at a stalemate at 49 a-piece with 9:31 left to play. From that point, the Highlanders went on an 8-2 run to take a 57-51 lead, capped off by two layups from senior
Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East) and
Dashaun Cain (Wilmington, DE / Red Lion Christian Academy). Bryn Athyn made a late run by getting by drawing fouls and knocking down free throws, but Cairn cashed in just enough of its own attempts at the charity stripe to claim the victory.
Cairn shot 45.6% (31-68) compared to 38.1% (24-63) for the Lions in the contest. Cairn dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lions 51-35 and registered 17 offensive rebounds. The Highlanders also bested Bryn Athyn in points in the paint (44-28) and held the Lions' leading scorer
Jayquan Williams (26.5 points per game entering the contest) to just 35.2% (6-17) shooting in the game.
Cairn was led by Rivera and senior
Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing) who each poured in a game-high 24 points. Rivera shot 10-for-13 from the floor and added three assists while Clark was an equally efficient eight-for-11. Clark also pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds and is one board away from 500 rebounds for his career, which would make him just the eighth Highlander in program history to reach 500+ career rebounds. Forker contributed 13 points to go along with three blocks and a pair of steals while Cain added nine points, three assists and a team-high three swipes.
Cairn will now have a short break before it returns to the floor after Christmas break to take on Moravian University on Wednesday, December 29 in a non-conference matchup at home at 7 p.m.
