GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- The Gwynedd Mercy Men's Basketball team fell to Arcadia in the inaugural 'Battle of Route 309' on Tuesday night at the Griffin Complex.

Cedric Elleby was one of three Griffins in double figures as the junior was 12-of-18 shooting for a career-high 32 points while pulling down 10 rebounds, both game highs. Senior Julian Hyden and Darnell Artis nearly missed double-doubles of their own as Hyden finished with 20 points and nine boards while Artis totaled 15 points and nine assists.

Leading by as many as eight points in the first half, the Griffins held the lead until the last four minutes of the stanza. They would shoot over 50% in the first 20 minutes, but were only 2-of-10 from behind the arc. The Knights managed to battle back and go up by one (38-37) on a fast break layup by Ryan Kelley with 1:21 left before the half. Elleby would hit one of two from the line to knot it up. A charging call on one of the Griffins' final possessions allowed the Knights to give it a go before the buzzer where they scored a bucket with 32 ticks left and take a 40-38 at halftime.

The second half turned physical as Gwynedd tried to fight their way back, but seemingly the Knights would answer. Phil Pierfy would score three-straight times on as many possessions putting AU up 48-42 early in the period. Josh Scott's three would give the Knights a double-digit lead (57-47) with just under 15 minutes to play. Elleby, who scored 19 of his 32 in the final 20 minutes, would score six-straight on strong moves in the low post to pull Gwynedd within 57-53 at the 13:26 mark.

As the Knights entered foul trouble with 6:27 left, the Griffins continued to chip away at the single digit lead.  Following a technical foul on the Arcadia bench, Darnell Artis pulled GM within seven with 5:48 to go. John Landro would hit his third trey of the game to restore a double-digit lead just over a minute later.

The Griffins shot 29-of-65 (44.6%) overall compared to Arcadia's 36-of-64 (56.3%) effort. GM was just 3-of-21 from behind the arc while the Knights hit 9-of-18.

Piefry led the Knights (3-0) with 20 points, followed by Ryan Kelley with 18, Landro with 15, and Brandon Thompson chipping in 11. Landro and Thompson combined for six treys.

The Griffins travel to Stockton University this weekend to participate in the Stockton Tip-off Tournament.  Game one is set for 6 p.m. on Friday against Wesley, followed by a date with the host Ospreys on Saturday at 3 p.m.