GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- Neumann snapped Gwynedd Mercy's nine game winning streak and handed the Griffins their first CSAC defeat in an 88-77 contest at The Griffin Complex Wednesday night.

Julian Hyden had a game-high 24 points for GMercyU (14-6, 12-1 CSAC) while Darnell Artis kicked in 17 and Cedric Elleby added 14.

DeShawn Loman led the Knights (14-6, 10-3 CSAC) with 21 points as he was one of five players in double figures. Denzel Yard registered 13 points and 10 assists. His three-pointer with just under five minutes to go, stymied a Griffin rally.

Gwynedd did not have a lead in the contest as the Knights seemingly had an answer for every Griffin push. In the first half after two Hyden free throws, Yard would answer with a three-point play and later a tipped bucket from Tony Parker gave Neumann a 25-15 edge at the midway point of the stanza. Later in the period and down six (34-28), Artis hit from deep to cut it to three and after a Neumann bucket, Hyden got in the act and drained a three to pull GMercyU to 36-34 with 2:11 before the break. The Knights, however, responded with a 9-2 run to close the half and take a 45-36 edge.

Neumann would score the first five points of the second half and soon after a three from DeShawn Loman gave NU their largest lead of the contest (55-38) at the 16:59 mark.
Gwynedd put together an 8-0 run to get the deficit under double-digits (65-56) with 11:05 to play.

Artis would score off a steal followed by two free throws from Rip Engel and the Griffins were within four and right back in the mix. Hyden cut it to (68-65) with his three at the 6:26 mark. His putback after his own miss on a one-and-one made it a 71-67 contest. After a Gwynedd timeout, Yard's killer trey put Neumann back up by seven. GMercyU cut it to eight with 3:47 but it would be the only field goal over the next two minutes from Gwynedd as the Knights cemented the outcome.

The Griffins shot 37.9% in the first half and just over 40% for the game. The Knights were at a 55% shooting clip, the second highest opponent shooting percentage allowed this season and had the largest opponent rebounding edge (11) at 39-28. Darian Barnes and James Butler each pulled down nine boards apiece. Gwynedd had three players with six rebounds; Hyden, Elleby, and Brian Hennessey.

Gwynedd Mercy will host Rosemont on Saturday as part of the #Play4JaylenAndJP Day where the CSAC and its member institutions will hold a special fundraiser Jaylen and J.P. Baron, the children of head coach John Baron, whose mother is courageously battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. All 12 CSAC institutions are teaming up to support these two deserving children by charging a $2 admission fee to all CSAC basketball games on Saturday (CSAC students are free with their college ID). All proceeds from this event will go directly to Jaylen and JP as well as additional donations will also be accepted.