LANGHORNE, Pa. – The top-seeded Cairn University men's basketball team saw its 2022-23 season come to a close following a 95-88 defeat at the hands of No. 4 seed Keystone College in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Semifinals inside the Mason Activity Center on Wednesday evening.
 
No. 1 Cairn (17-9, 12-2 CSAC) grabbed an early 8-5 lead over No. 4 Keystone (14-13, 8-6 CSAC) on eight-straight points by junior Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) to start the contest. The Highlanders got the lead up to eight (32-24) at its largest point in the first half, and maintained a 41-37 advantage at intermission.
 
Cairn led 46-44 early in the second half, before the Giants ignited a 12-0 sprint over the next three minutes to take a 56-46 lead at the 14:42 mark. The Giant advantage stayed around double digits for much of the second half, leading by 15 (87-72) with 1:40 to play. Cairn made a valiant effort to get back into the contest, trimming the lead to single digits. However, the advantage proved too much to overcome, as Keystone held on to advance to the conference championship game.
 
Cairn narrowly out shot Keystone in the bout, 47.9% (35-73) to 47.5% (29-61). The Highlanders connected on 36.7% (11-30) of their long range tries, and out rebounded Keystone, 41-35. The Giants won the contest at the charity stripe, getting to the line 34 times in the game, converting on 82.4% (28-34) of its free throw chances.
 
Cairn was led by Bradford, who left it all out on the floor to the tune of a season-high 27 points and 10 boards. Fifth-year Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing HS) followed with a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double, while junior Josh Forker (Telford, PA / Faith Christian Academy) added a season-high 14 points and four triples to go along with five assists. Clark rounded out his Highlander tenure with 1,017 career points and 920 career rebounds. Fifth-year Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East) finished with a game-high 10 assists, finishing as the program's all-time leader in assists with 463 career assists. Rivera's 154 assists in the 2022-23 season ranks as the second-most assists in a single season in school history.
 
The Highlanders conclude the 2022-23 season with an overall record on 17-9 and finished 12-2 in conference play. Cairn claimed its second CSAC Regular Season Championship in program history, and earned its second No. 1 slating in the conference championship tournament.