CENTER VALLEY, PA – Men's Basketball won their fifth-straight with another MAC crossover win on Monday night at DeSales, 84-72.
 
Graduate guard Ron Ayers (Prince George's Co., MD / Stevenson) wasted no time to get the party started with a three off the tip before DeSales (4-5 / MAC FREEDOM) matched and briefly took the lead. After two buckets from senior forward Andre Burrell, Jr. (Philadelphia, PA / Burlington Co. Tech), sophomore guard Andrew DaCosta (Bordentown, NJ / Bordentown Regional) got rolling with a pair of made threes and two free throws, putting Cairn (9-2 / 2-0 UNITED EAST) up by one. Graduate guard Chris Hill (Charlotte, NC / St. Augustine's University) turned an offensive rebound into two points as a three ball from classmate Byron Gaskins (Woodbridge, VA / Carlow) extended the advantage to seven with ten minutes to play in the half
 
Gaskins came back with three points the easy way, from the free throw line, pushing it back to seven as DeSales countered. Hill banged a three to go up double digits as graduate guard Jaylon Simpson (Atlanta, GA / Belmont Abby) and Ayers made layups to keep the lead briefly at ten. The Bulldogs answered with three-straight layups, cutting the lead to four before Ayers hit another three out of the under-four media timeout. DeSales had the final points of the half, keeping the Highlanders close, 40-37.
 
A tip-in for the first second half score by DeSales would cut the lead to one, and that would be as close as the Bulldogs got for the rest of the contest. Graduate guard Corey Baldwin (Henderson, NC / Averett) and Ayers knocked down threes to push the pace again, Simpson adding a layup and free throw with the foul. Senior guard Jonathan Desir (Feasterville, PA / Neshaminy) hit a three, followed by Ayers with another and the advantage at fourteen. Simpson kept pushing with a layup and three, the lead approaching twenty.
 
DeSales would cut the deficit to nine, but Desir responded immediately with a three. Ayers closed the game with a mid-range and pair of free throws to end the Highlanders' fifth-straight win at 84-72.
 
Ayers finished with 18 points on 4-6 shooting from deep. Hill was next with 15 and 5 assists while Simpson had twelve and Gaskins had eleven in Cairn's second MAC crossover win of the year.
 
The Highlanders will host McDaniel College on Wednesday afternoon for their final home game of 2025, tipping off at 3 p.m.