LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with a 91-66 victory at home over conference adversary Bryn Athyn College on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Highlanders clinched the No. 1 seed in next week's Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship Tournament, their second CSAC Regular Season Championship in program history.
Cairn (17-8, 12-2 CSAC) opened the contest seeking to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the Colonial States Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship tournament with a win over conference foe Bryn Athyn College (11-14, 5-9 CSAC). The evening began with Senior Day festivities as Cairn honored their seniors for their numerous contributions to the program, Richard Rosas (Lancaster, PA / Lancaster Mennonite), Jesse Rivera (Doylestown, PA / Central Bucks East), Dashaun Cain (Wilmington, DE / Red Lion Christian Academy), Matt Lucas (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown HS), Noah Mitchell (Leesburg, VA / Toccoa Falls College), Kameron Clark (Ewing, NJ / Ewing HS), and Mizz Nyagwegwe (Norristown, PA / Eastern Mennonite University). Additionally, Cairn honored Rivera for breaking the program's assist record, and Head Coach Jason O'Connell on surpassing 100 career collegiate coaching victories.
"It was great celebrating our seniors tonight." remarked O'Connell. "They've each meant so much to our program and it was nice we could celebrate them with a win. Being the No. 1 seed overall and being the regular season champion is a big accomplishment for us. We have a very close knit group and I'm excited to see how we compete for each other over the next several days."
The Highlanders got the offense moving immediately from the tip with back-to-back buckets by Clark, including a three-point play as Cairn began to compile its lead. Lucas took over from deep, knocking down three triples in the first half. Nyagwegwe and Mitchell also drained deep shots for Cairn as the lead stretched as far as 10. Bryn Athyn responded with back-to-back jump shots to close the period trailing by just six (44-38).
The Highlander offense continued to feed Clark in the paint as the second half got underway. Two minutes in, Clark collected his 1,000th career point on a layup assisted by Cain, becoming just the 26th player in program history to hit the 1,000-point milestone.
From there, Cairn never looked back as they began their run to the finish. Rosas found his shot from deep, knocking down two three-point shots in the period. The Highlanders pressed the lead to 28 at its largest point, before Bryn Athyn knocked down a three-pointer in the closing seconds as Cairn secured the 91-66 victory.
The Highlanders shot 48.5% (33-68) from the floor to Bryn Athyn's 42.9% (24-56). Cairn shot 48.3% (14-29) from behind the arc compared to the Lions' 33.3% (7-21). The Highlanders remained consistent from the charity stripe once again, making the most of their opportunities by shooting 11-for-13 (84.6%), while the Lions were 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the line. Cairn had a near record-breaking performance distributing the ball, handing out a season-high 31 assists in the victory, the second-most assists in a game in program history (33, vs. Rutgers Camden, Feb. 5, 2004).
All seven seniors found the scoring column, led by Clark's 14 points and nine rebounds followed by Nyagwegwe with 13 points. Lucas and Mitchell both added 12 points off four three-pointers a-piece. Rivera contributed a game-high nine assists in the victory, while Rosas and junior Owen Bradford (Lansdale, PA / University of Valley Forge) each handed out four assists a-pop.
With this win, the Highlanders secured the No. 1 overall seed in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament and will face off against the winner of No. 4 Keystone College and No. 5 Saint Elizabeth University, who will battle in the CSAC Tournament Play-In Game on Monday night in La Plume. Cairn will host the winner in the CSAC Semifinals on Wednesday night at a time to be determined, and hold home-court advantage throughout the tournament.