LANGHORNE, PA – Cairn Men's Basketball picked up another victory on feast week, dishing out a program record 23 made three pointers against St. Joseph's – Long Island, 99-69.
Cairn (4-2 / 1-0 UNITED EAST) took control behind graduate guard Corey Baldwin (Henderson, NC / Averett) with two made threes and a layup in the first two minutes of play. Classmate Jaylon Simpson (Atlanta, GA / Belmont Abbey) added three points on a layup, drawing the foul and making the layup as the Highlanders opened the game on an 11-0 run. St. Joseph's – Long Island (1-6 / SKYLINE) cut the lead to three before the hot three-point shooting took over again. Baldwin made another as fifth year forward Isaiah Coleman (Fontana, CA / Clarks Summit University) went back-to-back from behind the arc. Graduate guard Jeff Williamson (Brooklyn, NY / SUNY Potsdam) made a layup as the Golden Eagles tried to make a move to come back. As the first half wound down, Cairn's only scoring would be from seven threes to close the frame as senior guard Jonathan Desir (Feasterville, PA / Neshaminy) made three tripled in the last five minutes of play.
Coming out of the break, Desir continued to stay hot from deep, splashing a pair of threes on early possessions, extending the lead to eighteen. Baldwin had yet another deep shot and a jumper to keep Cairn on pace. Desir hit for three points on back-to-back possessions as Coleman and junior guard Moses Ilodigwe (Wilmington, DE / Lycoming College) followed suit from distance, beginning Cairn's largest scoring run of the game. Two jump shots from Coleman and a three from Ilodigwe kept the Highlanders rolling as a tip-in by Williamson crashing the offensive boards broke the 30-point margin for Cairn. Graduate guard Jadon Cepeda (West New York, NJ / William Paterson) and senior guard Derrick Dolan (Berlin, NJ / Conwell-Egan) put the finishing touches on the hot three-point shooting, combining for three triples in the closing minutes. Four free throws would cut the lead to thirty for the St. Joseph's, as the Highlanders ran away, 99-69.
Desir had a season high seven threes for 21 points, shooting 7-11 from deep and grabbing five rebounds. Coleman also had 21 points, shooting 4-7 from three-point range with six rebounds. Baldwin finished next with 16 points, also on 4-7 three-point shooting with six assists. Simpson had a game-high 9 assists with as many points with a pair of threes and Illodigwe added a trio of triples for his nine points.
The Highlanders set a program record for made three-pointers with 23 as a team, shooting 46% from deep including 55% in the second half. As of Saturday, that is the second most in a single game this season in all of NCAA Division III for Cairn's fourth-straight win.
Cairn will be back in action on Wednesday night, hosting Bryn Athyn College for a Women's/Men's doubleheader for their Christmas Game.