LANGHORNE, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy secured the #1 playoff seed in next week's CSAC Tournament with a wild 85-79 win at Cairn. The Griffins (18-6) now stand at 16-1 in conference play and will have a first-round bye and home court advantage.

Julian Hyden continues to sizzle, as the senior netted his third-straight game with 30 or more points. Tonight, he was 11-of-14 shooting and 7-of-9 from the line while adding a pair of three-pointers to finish with a game-high 31 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds, tops on the evening. Cedric Elleby would score 12 of his 16 points in the second half and Darnell Artis kicked in 13 points for the contest.

Gerroid Doughy led the Highlanders (9-15, 5-12 CSAC) with 23 points. Teammates Kyle Bonner (17 points) and Chris Uhrich (13 points) also reached double digits.

Both teams shot over 50% in the first half and traded big scoring runs throughout. The Griffins would race out to a 9-2 lead just over two minutes into the contest before Cairn answered with a 15-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to lead by as much as six. Later in the stanza, Artis' bucket off a steal cut the deficit to 34-32 with 3:20 remaining. A 9-2 run from Cairn upped the lead back to 43-33, its largest of the half, with just under a minute before halftime. Hyden would connect on a three as did freshman Courtney Cubbage at the buzzer to cut the lead to 45-39.

A three from Artis at the 15:55 mark would give GMercyU its first lead (47-46) since early in the first half.

The craziness continued as in the final 5:23 of the game, and with the score tied 67-67, both teams traded leads five times. Brian Hennessey would score the eventual go-ahead bucket with 2:44 left for a two-point lead. Up four (80-76) with 1:23 to go, Bonner hit the last of his three three-pointers to pull the Highlanders within one. On their next possession, Elleby would put back a miss, and after a rebound from a Cairn miss, Hyden hit two free throws to extend the lead to five (84-79) with just 30 ticks left and go on to record the win.

Game Notes: Elleby had five of the team's six blocks...Cubbage finished with seven points and seven rebounds...Hennessey chipped in four points and four boards...The Griffins would shoot 59% in the second (16-of-27) and 54% for the game...46 of the 85 points were scored in the paint.

Gwynedd Mercy will conclude the regular season on Saturday with a date at Cabrini. The Griffins will host a CSAC Semifinal game here at The Griffin Complex next Wednesday at 8 p.m.