Brandywine Downs Cairn For United East Road Victory

LANGHORNE, Pa. – Penn State Brandywine claimed a 78-71 victory at Cairn, securing a key United East Conference men's basketball triumph, on Saturday afternoon.

Brandywine, which suffered a double overtime loss to Cairn to open the season, improved to 3-1 in conference play to remain one game back of first place in the United East standings, while sending Cairn to its first league setback.

Amari Little (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge) led five double-figure scorers with 17 points and added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jaden Fogg (Morrisville, Pa./Morrisville) notched 14 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds, while Isaiah Johnson (Levittown, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) shot 5-of-8 from the floor for 12 points. Ja'bri White (Townsend, Del./St. Mark's) tallied 11 points and Corwin Holland II (Bowie, Md./Rock Creek Christian) totaled 10 points.

Brandywine held a 36-33 edge at halftime and stretched the margin to seven when Fogg and Little opened the second period with back-to-back baskets. Cairn answered with the game's next eight points, but Little countered with a triple to put the Lions back on top 43-41 at the 15:36 mark.

Andrew DaCosta's triple gave the hosts another one-point edge with 13:13 on the clock; however, those would be the final Highlander points for nearly five minutes as Brandywine seized control of the game. Little knocked down two free throws to put Brandywine in front, while Holland connected on a triple and Johnson sank a pair at the charity stripe to up the Lions' lead to 54-48 with 8:30 to play.

Cairn battled back to within three, but Brandywine's defense again held the Highlanders offense the scoreboard for an extended period, this time over three-and-a-half minutes. Baskets by White and Johnson during that time pushed the edge back to seven points.

The hosts put one final rally together, closing within two; however, Little went coast-to-coast for a layup and Ahmaar Godhania (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) added two free throws 21 seconds later to make the score 71-65 with 1:07 to go. The Lions made 7-of-10 free throws during the final 60 seconds to secure the win.

Brandywine shot 49 percent from the field, while limiting Cairn to 34 percent shooting, including a 13-of-42 mark from three-point range. The Lions also forced 18 turnovers and outscored Cairn 36-18 in the paint.

Brandywine (8-8, 3-1 UEC) continues its three-game road trip Tuesday at Valley Forge beginning at 5:00 PM.