LANGHORNE, PA – Cairn Men's Basketball faced the Desales Bulldogs on Wednesday night, continuing their home-stand, dropping their United East-MAC crossover matchup 96-84.
 
To start the game with a lead, graduate guard Jaylon Simpson (Atlanta, GA / Belmont Abbey) dropped a layup through the net followed by senior guard Jonathan Desir (Feasterville, PA / Neshaminy) and fifth year forward Isaiah Coleman (Fontana, CA / Clarks Summit University) combined to drain four three-pointers, maintaining the lead. Desales (2-0) took the lead with senior guard Ashton West (Newport Beach, CA / Clarks Summit University) making a layup followed by junior guard Moses Ilodigwe's (Wilmington, DE / Lycoming College) pair of triples to cut the distance. Graduate guard Corey Baldwin (Henderson, NC / Averett) knocked down a jumper in the paint and senior guard Christian Rivera (Cayey, Puerto Rico / Central Bucks East) marking his first points of the night with a layup.
 
On the run to the first half finish, senior guard Ashton West (Newport Beach, CA / Clarks Summit), Baldwin and Simpson tapped in five layups, Coleman brought another three-pointer to the scoring column and to end Highlander's first half, Rivera made a fastbreak layup and was fouled on the run with seconds remaining, knowing down both of his free throws, landing the Highlanders behind by only four at the break.
 
Coleman, in his zone behind the three-point line, buried another triple to start off their second half but the Bulldogs responded in force, extending the lead to fourteen. After a timeout, Rivera got right to work with a layup and graduate guard Jadon Cepeda (West New York, NJ / William Patterson) got fouled after making a three, adding another two more and cutting the lead to single digits. Desir, now back in the game, added two with another layup as well as one for senior forward Chris Eelman (North Haledon, NJ / Hawthorne Christian) but DeSales kept pushing, as far as an eighteen-point margin.
 
Baldwin, now with the ball on a fastbreak, sank a three and Simpson made another layup in the paint Coleman buried another behind the arc and West picked up a steal, going coast-to-coast, cutting the lead to eight. Simpson made a jump shot, a three-pointer and both of his free throws as DeSales continued to charge, now down seven with a minute and change to play. DeSales would make their free throws, extending the lead back to fourteen as Simpson knocked down the final shot of the night, a three, to close the game in favor of the Bulldogs, 96-84.
 
Coleman led the Highlanders with 17 points on 5-9 shooting from behind the arc and a blocked shot. Simpson had 16 points and 7 boards. Rivera finished with 11 points and five assists  with a pair of steals while Desir and West each rounded out the double-digit scorers for Cairn with ten apiece, the former shooting 2-2 from deep.
 
DeSales made the most of free throws, shooting 38-44 from the line (86.4%) while Cairn only attempted eleven, making nine (81.8%). The Bulldogs also had 22 points off of turnovers, 18 second-chance points, 46 points in the paint on 40% shooting behind the arc. The Highlanders shot 37.1% (13-35) from three, making thirteen from long range.
 
The Highlanders will host the Pioneers of William Paterson University on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. tip off.