LANGHORNE, PA – The Cairn University Men's Basketball Team has earned the No. 7 seed in the 2025 United East Men's Basketball Championship which kicks off for the Highlanders on Wednesday, February 19^th at home with a 7 p.m. tip off against No. 10 University of Valley Forge.
 
THE FIELD:
 
Bryn Athyn (15-1) secured the first overall seed on Saturday night as they capped off conference play with an 83-72 win over Gallaudet. Penn State Harrisburg (13-3) picked up second seed after securing a tie breaker over Lancaster Bible College (13-3) who will be No. 3. The No. 4 seed belongs to Keystone College (11-5) after they finished conference play on an 86-64 win against Penn St. Brandywine. All of the above have secured a first-round bye.
In the First Round of the Men's United East Championship, the No. 5 Seahawks of St Mary's College of Maryland (10-6) will host No. 12 Penn College (6-10) having won the tiebreaker over Notre Dame of Maryland (10-6) who is the sixth seed and will host No. 11 Penn State Berks (6-10), meeting for the first time this season. The No. 7 seed belongs to Cairn (9-7) who holds the tiebreaker over Wilson College and will host No. 10 Valley Forge (6-10). The final matchup of the First Round is No. 8 Wilson College (9-7) hosting No. 9 Saint Elizabeth (8-8). All four First Round matchups play on Wednesday, February 19. From there, No. 1 Bryn Athyn will play the winner of No. 8 Wilson/No. 9 Saint Elizabeth, No. 2 Penn State Harrisburg will play the winner of No. 7 Cairn/No. 10 Valley Forge. No. 3 Lancaster Bible will await the winner of No. 6 Notre Dame (MD)/No. 11 Penn State Berks while No. 4 Keystone will host the winner of No. 5 St. Mary's College of Maryland/No. 12 Penn College.
 
OUR TEAM:
 
Cairn Men's Basketball finished the regular season with a 12-13 record overall and 9-7 in conference play behind a 4-man scoring tandem of forwards Josiah Hardy (Ashburn, VA / Hampden-Sydney), fifth year forward Isaiah Coleman (Fontana, CA / Clarks Summit University), and guards Jaylon Simpson (Atlanta, GA / Belmont Abbey) and Ashton West (Newport Beach, CA / Clarks Summit University) all leading the way for the offense. Coleman finished the regular season leading the conference in three-pointers made (58), while Hardy has been impressive with both his mid-range jump shot, enough to lead the team in points (355) on the season, and an 82.9% free throw shooting percentage which is good for second in the conference. Hardy also leads the team in blocked shots (27) and rebounding (6.0/game) holding it down on the defensive end. Senior guard Christian Rivera (Cayey, Puerto Rico / Central Bucks East) has been the key facilitator when healthy, leading the team in assists (70). Senior guard Corey Baldwin has been the leading board-getter this year, helping the Highlanders on both the offensive and defensive glass while averaging 5.8 rebounds per game. West leads the team in total steals on the season (28), giving the team more opportunities for points off turnovers, most notably last week as his steal was instrumental to Cairn's buzzer-beater victory over Keystone.
 
THE MATCHUP:
 
Cairn will host No. 10 Valley Forge in the Mason Activity Center on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip off, meeting for the third time this season. In their last matchup, Cairn held the 84-65 advantage with a win on the road on January 22^nd.  Baldwin was the leading scorer in the blowout win with 18 points as well as Hardy accounting for a double double of 17 points (including his 1,000^th career point) and 10 rebounds, while also perfect from the free throw line. In their first meeting of the season, Cairn defended home court with a 95-82 win where Hardy, Simpson, West, and Coleman had a combined 70 points of the total 95. In previous meetings over the last 5 seasons the Highlanders are 9-2 against the Patriots, 3-1 at home, as Cairn looks to up that record to 10 wins on Wednesday night.
 
Stay tuned to gounitedeast.com for full coverage of the entire United East Men's Basketball Championship.