LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball team defeated the Giants of Keystone College, 81-77 in the Highlanders' Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) opener Saturday afternoon.
 
Cairn (6-3, 1-0 CSAC) found themselves in a back-and-forth battle throughout the first half. Keystone (3-6, 1-1 CSAC) led most of the half but the Highlanders were kept in the game by senior guard Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East), who led the way for the Highlanders in the half in scoring with 12 points and three assists alongside senior center Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing High School) with 11 points. Junior guard Josh Forker (Telford, PA / Faith Christian) added six points in the form of two deep triples in the frame as the Highlanders found themselves only down three at half, 41-38.
 
Keystone challenged the Highlanders with a 30-point performance by graduate student guard Tone Cockrell, but Cairn kept it close with the story of the second half being sophomore guard Matt Lucas (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown High School), who put up 15 points on five-of-seven shooting from deep in the half. Lucas was followed by junior guard Dashaun Cain (Wilmington, DE / Red Lion Christian Academy) who had 10 points and junior forward Wes Murray (Reading, PA / Exeter High School) with six points in the half as the Highlanders held on in the closing minutes, defeating Keystone 81-77.
 
The Highlanders shot 40.7% (24-59) from the floor to Keystone's 40.6% (28-69). Cairn shot 35.7% (10-28) from behind the arc compared to Keystone's 33.3% (8-24). The Highlanders remained consistent from the charity stripe once again, making the most of their opportunities shooting 23-30 (76.7%) while the Giants were 13-19 (68.4%).
 
The Cairn offense was led by Clark's third consecutive double-double in the form of 19 points and 17 rebounds and Lucas with 18 on six-of-11 shooting from behind the arc. Lucas' 18 total points accounted for all of the Highlanders' bench points, edging Keystone's 12. Cain added 16 points and five rebounds and buried a clutch triple to give Cairn a five-point lead with just over two minutes remaining. Rivera had 12 points and Forker provided six in the scoring column.
 
The Highlanders are on the road on Wednesday, December 8 as they face off against conference foe University of Valley Forge in Phoenixville at 8 p.m.