ROSEMONT – After forging multiple comebacks against the visiting Cairn University Highlanders (5-2, 2-0 CSAC), the Rosemont men's basketball team (3-3, 1-1 CSAC), were outgunned towards the end of the overtime period and fell short by a final score of 97-94.
The visiting Highlanders would go on a 16-6 run to open up what was a 5-5 tie game into a 21-11 lead with 12:21 left in the first half. The Ravens worked hard to forge a comeback, and they did get to within four points, trailing 35-31 with 5:41 on the clock. The Highlanders held off the Ravens attempts to get closer in the half, and extended their lead back to 10 points, 43-33 with 2:44 left before the half. Rosemont wouldn't go away, though, as they went on an 11-3 spurt to get to within two points, 46-44 with eight seconds left before the break, but a Cairn tip-in from Julian Collazo would put the Ravens behind by four points at the half, 48—44.
In the second half, the Ravens would stay close for most of the period, but getting the lead was elusive. Twice the Ravens would get to within a point of the lead but would fall just short. A Rosemont layup from Alex Epps-Ortiz would get Rosemont to within 58-57 with 12 minutes left, but Cairn went on a 9-1 streak to grab a 66-58 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. They would up that lead to 10 points, 72-62 with 6:30 left and the clock starting to become a factor.
Again, the Ravens chipped away at the deficit with a 12-2 run of their own to tie the game, 74-74 with 1:37 remaining. Tied 76-76 with 1:37 left, the Highlanders' JD Zamroz sank a crucial three-pointer to put the Ravens behind 79-76 with 1:18 left. Two free throws from Marcus Thomas would get Rosemont back to within a point, trailing 79-78 with a minute left in regulation, when the Ravens forced a shot-clock turnover against the Highlanders to give the Ravens the ball, trailing by a point with 29 seconds remaining. A Rosemont missed jumper, followed by a Cairn defensive rebound and a Ravens foul resulted in Cairns' Jason Kuntzelman going to the foul line for a one-and-one, where he sank both shots to put the Highlanders ahead 81-78 with 17 seconds left. After a Rosemont timeout, Kyle Lafferty fed Marcus Thomas for a trey to tie the game and Alumnae Hall exploded as Cairn failed to score in the final five seconds, sending the game into overtime, tied 81-81.
Down by two points to start OT, Khai Roberts took a pass from Clayton Wolfe and buried a three to give the Ravens an 84-83 lead, which would prove to be their final lead in the extra period. Down by four, another three-pointer from Thomas and a layup by Jamier Hughes would knot the scores at 89-89 with 1:49 left in the OT. Cairn's Doughty again proved to be a thorn in the side of the Ravens, converting on a traditional three-point play. Another layup from Thomas would move the Ravens to within a point, 92-91 with 1:37 on the clock, but Rosemont would get no closer as Cairn upped their lead to five points and Rosemont could not convert on the offensive side in their last couple of opportunities.
Marcus Thomas led five Ravens in double-figures with 32 points on 10-for-21 shooting from the field, 4-for-8 from downtown. Kyle Lafferty hit for 15 points while Khai Roberts and Clayton Wolfeeach scored 13 points. Jamier Hughes led the Ravens with eight boards and scored 11.
The Highlanders also had five players in double-digits led by 24 points from Gerroid Doughty and 20 points from Jason Kuntzelman. Julian Collazo (17), JD Zamroz (14) and Chris Uhrich (10) hit double-digits on the scoreboard, while Jordan Sharpe had 12 boards to lead both teams.
The loss to Cairn broke a ten-game winning streak that the Ravens had over the Highlanders going back to 2010. It was the first overtime game for the Ravens since 12/20/2014 in a loss at Ursinus.
Next up for the Ravens is a trip to Keystone on Saturday where their CSAC game against the Giants is scheduled for a 1:00pm tip-off.