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Gwynedd Mercy 98, Cairn 79

BOX SCORE


LANGHORNE, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy defeated Cairn, 98-79, Saturday afternoon in Colonial States Athletic Conference play.

The Griffins (5-3, 3-1 CSAC) got the first half rolling when Tom McKeefery (North Cape May, N.J. / Lower Cape May) slammed home a two hand jam as Gwynedd took an early 6-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game.  A Tom Catanoso (Cape May Court House, N.J. / Middle Twp.) three-pointer would stretch their lead to nine (20-11), however the Highlanders would go on a 7-0 run of their own to cut the lead back down to two.

Junior Seth Heinicke (Warminster, Pa. / Calvary) answered that run with a five-point swing of his own, connecting on a bucket and hitting a three pointer. He would start another spurt moments later, stretching the lead to ten (34-24). Junior Colin Gates (Boca Raton, Fl. / Grandview Prep) gave Gwynedd their largest lead of the half, 45-30, after his trey. Cairn was able to hit a three pointer at the buzzer at the end of the stanza to cut the lead to 47-36 at halftime.

Gwynedd started the second the same as the first with McKeefery throwing down an alley-oop jam to start the period. The Highlanders would cut the Griffin lead to six (56-50) before junior Justin Knight (Mays Landing, N.J. / Oakcrest) would take over from that point scoring on back-to-back possessions and closing out the run on with a pair of free throws to put GM ahead, 68-57.

The Griffins would close out the half with a 10-0 run that saw too three-point plays from Chris Simmons (Prospect Park, Pa. / Interboro) and Arron Goodman (Newtown, Pa. / Council Rock North).

Knight led all scorers with 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting, as he knocked down two three-pointers and going a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.  Heinicke (17) and Goodman (16) rounded out the scoring for the Griffins. Goodman led GM with eight rebounds as GM totaled a 29-25 edge on the boards.

Darnell Clowney led Cairn (0-7, 0-4 CSAC) with 22 points, Justin Lewis added 20.

The Griffins return to action next Sunday as they start a north-south trek. First up is a visit to New York City to take on John Jay College in a 1 p.m. tip-off. From there, they'll head to sunny Florida the next day to play Division II Lynn University in an exhibition game. Two days later, Gwynedd takes part in the Rappaport Holiday Tournament hosted by NAIA Northwood University. GM will take on Montreat College on Wednesday before battling the host Seahawks or Valor Christian the following day.