NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Cairn University men's basketball team saw its five-game win streak come to a close following a 74-63 defeat at the hands of non-conference foe The City College of New York on the road on Monday evening.
 
CCNY (4-4) stormed out to a quick 11-2 lead over Cairn (5-3) through the first six minutes of the contest. The Highlanders kept the distance at a reasonable five-point margin (26-21) with 4:20 to play in the first half, but the Beavers closed the first half on an 11-3 run to take a 37-24 lead into intermission.
 
CCNY got the lead up to 17 (47-30) at its largest point at the 16:21 mark of the second half. The Highlanders cut the deficit to 12 (50-38) with 11:57 to play, before rallying for a quick 7-0 run over the next two minutes to trim the lead to just five (50-45). The Beavers maintained that five point lead at the 9:01 mark, before utilizing a 6-0 run to put an end to Cairn's comeback hopes.
 
CCNY shot 43.8% (28-64) from the field in the contest compared to a 40.3% (25-62) mark for Cairn. CCNY bested Cairn on the glass (47-32) and collected 15 offensive rebounds in the bout. The Beavers won the contest inside, topping the Highlanders 40-26 in the painted area.
 
Cairn was led offensively by fifth-year Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East), who posted a team-high 18 points on a 50% (8-16) night from the field. Rivera was followed by junior Matt Lucas (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown Area), who tacked on a season-high 14 points highlighted by four triples. Junior Wes Murray (Reading, PA / Exeter) added nine points and five boards.
 
The Highlanders will be back on the floor on Friday, December 9, when they return home to take on NCCAA foe Great Lakes Christian College in Cairn's annual Christmas-themed contest at 7 p.m.