LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball won, 69-58, at home over defending Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) champion Wilson College on Saturday evening.
"The game tonight was one of the more complete games we've put together in my time at Cairn." remarked ninth-year Head Coach Jason O'Connell. "Wilson is a talented team that's well-coached and our guys were ready to play from top to bottom. We were outstanding defensively, holding them to 34% from the field and efficient on the offensive end, dishing out 16 assists. Coming into the game, we knew it was going to be a battle and our guys left it all on the floor. We are excited to see how we can continue to build off of this."
Cairn (7-6, 2-0 CSAC) came ready to play in the conference championship rematch, storming out to a 15-4 lead over Wilson (7-6, 1-1 CSAC) just over seven minutes in. The Phoenix got the deficit to three (27-24) with one minute left in the first half, but the Highlanders answered with a pair of buckets to end the frame and took a 31-24 lead into intermission.
The Highlander led remained at three (35-32) five minutes into the second half, but a quick 7-0 run capped off by a triple from junior Matt Lucas (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown HS) extended the lead to double digits with 12:43 to play. Cairn extended the lead even further, this time to a 16-point margin (59-42) after another three by Lucas at the 6:02 mark. Wilson crawled back into it, led by 11 points in the final six minutes on the back of junior Gary Robertson, and cut the lead to five (63-58) with just over one minute remaining. However, a bucket by fifth-year Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing HS) and a pair of free throws from classmate Dashaun Cain (Wilmington, DE / Red Lion Christian Academy) sealed the win for the Highlanders.
Cairn shot 46.4% (26-56) from the field and held Wilson to 34.4% (21-61) shooting in the contest, Wilson's lowest field goal percentage of the season thus far. Cairn assisted 16 of their 26 made shots, and dominated the Phoenix in bench points (30-9). Cairn did not trail in the contest.
The Highlanders were paced on offense by junior Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) with a season-high 20 points on 50% (8-16) shooting. Bradford was followed by fifth-year Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East) with 11 points and a game-high seven assists. Clark rounded out the Highlanders in double figures with 10 points, seven boards and a game-high three blocks. Lucas and Cain each tallied nine points, while Cain ripped down a team-high nine rebounds.
The Highlanders will take their 2-0 conference record on the road next week on Wednesday, January 11, when they travel to Clarks Summit University (1-10, 0-2 CSAC) for a CSAC tilt with the Defenders at 7 p.m.