LANGHORNE, PA – The Cairn University Men's Basketball team faced off against the Notre Dame of Maryland University Gators for the first time ever, in their inaugural season, on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Gators 93-75.
 
Cairn (8-5 / 4-2 United East Skye Division) was off and running from the jump with senior forward Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) scoring eight straight points, forcing the Gators to take a timeout to try and cool him down. After Notre Dame (1-10 / 1-4 United East Skye Division) got themselves in the scoring column, the Highlanders pulled away on a 13-2 run, led by five points and a pair of key rebounds from junior guard Jonathan Desir (Feasterville, PA / Neshaminy). As the Gators found their way into double-digits, junior guard Christian Rivera (Cayey, Puerto Rico / Central Bucks East) found freshman guard Jake Zawacki (Kenilworth, NJ / David Brearly High School) for a triple with Zawacki then getting the ball stolen back for the Highlanders and eventually finding fifth year guard Josh Forker (Telford, PA / Faith Christian Academy) for a three. Senior guard Aytor Alberto (Willemstad, Curraçao / Clarks Summit University) found Forker for three and got in on the fun, knocking down an and-one triple and ensuing free throw to fend off a short-lived Gator offensive streak. Into the last minute of first half action, Alberto would sink a pair of shots from the free throw line to give Cairn a 56-34 lead at half.
 
When action resumed, senior forward Owen Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) drained a pair of shots, assisting his brother and Alberto as the lead pushed thirty points. Desir found junior forward Chris Eelman (North Haledon, NJ / Hawthorne Christian Academy) for a layup as the Highlanders looked to keep things managed under their control with the clock running to the finish. In the closing minutes, Alberto would be fouled again from behind the arc and make all three free throws to get the Cairn lead back to 20 before the Gators would give one last effort, closing the game in favor of Cairn, 93-75.
 
Derian Bradford and Alberto led all scorers with 32 and 29 points, respectively, Bradford adding fifteen rebounds on the afternoon. Alberto shot a perfect 14-14 from the charity stripe as well. As a whole, the Highlanders shot upwards of 50% (52.5 on 32-61 shooting) on the day, including an even 60% in the first half and 83.3% from the free throw line. While the Gators grabbed 20 second chance points to Cairn's 9, the Highlanders outpaced Notre Dame (MD) on the fast break, 17-4.
 
Next up for the Highlanders is Rosemont College at home on Thursday night Cairn squares up with the Ravens at 7 p.m. from inside the Mason Activity Center.