LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball lost, 67-61, at home in their final non-conference contest of the season against Penn State Abington on Monday evening.
Cairn (5-6) got off to a good start against Abington (8-3), the No. 9 ranked team in the City of Basketball Love (COBL) All-Area Division III Power Rankings, jetting out to a 13-7 lead five minutes into the contest. Cairn boosted its lead to seven (32-25) at the 3:29 mark of the first half off a triple by junior
Aytor Alberto (Willemstad, Curacao / Clarks Summit University) and took a 37-31 lead into the halftime break.
The Nittany Lions responded accordingly, re-taking the lead (46-43) after a three-ball at the 13-minute mark. Abington held the lead for the rest of the bout, extending the advantage to 10 (67-57) at its largest point. The Highlanders trimmed the lead to six (67-61) with 19 seconds remaining, but Abington played keep away to secure the non-conference victory.
Cairn out shot Abington 44.4% (24-54) to 43.3% (26-60) in the contest, and held the Nittany Lions to a 16.7% (3-18) mark from long range. Abington won the game at the charity stripe, posting a perfect 12-for-12 mark from the line compared to an eight-for-21 (38.1%) mark for Cairn.
Cairn was led offensively by junior
Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge), who posted a team-high 19 points on a nine-for-15 performance from the field. Bradford was followed by fifth-year
Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East), who added 15 points to go along with a team-high five assists. Classmate
Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing) contributed his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points to pair with a season-high 16 rebounds, while Alberto put up a season-high eight points on a perfect three-for-three day from the floor.
The Highlanders will now gear up for the beginning of Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) play starting on Wednesday, January 4 when they welcome the University of Valley Forge to Langhorne for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
