LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball won, 77-68, at home in a battle for first place in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) standings with Rosemont College on Saturday afternoon.
 
"The win tonight was well earned by our guys." remarked Head Coach Jason O'Connell. "I thought we did an outstanding job on the glass and our guys made extra-effort plays keeping them to one shot and done. We did a poor job taking care of the ball overall, but did a better job in the second half in that regard. Hopefully, we can continue to improve in this area."
 
Both teams battled as expected early on, as Rosemont (5-9, 3-1 CSAC) took an 18-12 lead over Cairn (9-6, 4-0 CSAC) at the midway point of the first half, before Highlander junior Matt Lucas (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown HS) connected on back-to-back threes to knot the game up at 18 a-piece. Cairn got the advantage up to eight at its largest point in the first half after Lucas buried another triple at the 1:47 mark (34-26), but the Ravens closed the frame on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to two (34-32) at intermission.
 
Rosemont picked up right where it left off to end the first half, exhausting another 6-0 run to start the frame to take a 38-34 lead two minutes into the second half. Cairn responded with a 6-0 sprint of its own to regain the advantage, and both teams traded the lead simultaneously throughout the second half. The Highlanders clung to a narrow 67-64 lead with 2:37 to play, and took control of the contest following another triple by Lucas, and six consecutive free throws to put away the contest. Cairn held the Ravens to just one basket over the final two and a half minutes of regulation.
 
Cairn out shot Rosemont 48.1% (26-54) to 42.2% (27-64) and dominated the glass to a 46-24 advantage. Cairn posted an 87.5% (14-16) mark from the line and out produced Rosemont's bench, 41-17.
 
Lucas had a night to remember, scorching the nets to the tune of a career-high 29 points and burying a new single-game, program-record nine three pointers. Lucas posted a nine-for-15 mark from long range and went 10-of-16 overall.
 
"Matt's performance shooting the ball tonight from three was an all-time great performance." remarked O'Connell. "Not only is Matt an elite shooter, but he is a great leader who just wants the team to be successful. Setting the school record for made threes in a game is a huge accomplishment and a part of why we were able to win."

Lucas was followed by junior Derian Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) with 18 points on an eight-for-12 mark from the field. Fifth-years Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East), Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing HS) and Dashaun Cain (Wilmington, DE / Red Lion Christian Academy) added eight points a-piece. Clark snagged a game-high 10 boards, while Rivera dished out a game-high seven assists. Clark, Lucas and junior Josh Forker (Telford, PA / Faith Christian) each tallied a game-high two blocked shots.
 
Cairn will now take its 4-0 conference record on the road next week, first traveling to La Plume for a CSAC tilt with second-place Keystone College (7-8, 3-1 CSAC) on Wednesday, January 18. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.