Brandywine Begins Home Slate With 76-66 Setback

MEDIA, Pa. -- Playing for the second night in a row, the Penn State Brandywine men's basketball team suffered a 76-66 setback against Cairn University in the Lions' home opener on Thursday night.

Brandywine scored eight of the first 10 points and extended the margin to 18-11 following Devon Jones' (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) layup at the 11:30 mark of the first half.

Cairn countered with an 11-0 run to take a four-point edge over the next four minutes and expanded its lead to 35-28 by halftime.

The Highlanders scored the first four points of the second period to build their largest lead of the night, but, despite being saddled with foul trouble all night, Brandywine fought back to take the lead.

Colin Hockenbrock (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) netted six consecutive Lions' points to trim the margin to six and Jamar Wright (Wilmington, Del./Conrad School of Science) sliced the deficit in half by converting a three-point play with 15:16 to play.

Cairn registered six of the next eight points, pushing the lead back to seven points at 48-41; however, Brandywine continued to battle back as Jones tallied a three-point play, Jaden Kelly (Philadelphia, Pa./GAMP) sank a layup and Hockenbrock added a free throw during a span of 55 seconds to bring the Lions within one.

Two minutes later, Brandywine took its first lead of the second half behind back-to-back triples off the hands of Jones and A.J. Dreger (Newtown Square, Pa./Bonner-Prendie).

The teams swapped baskets throughout the next two minutes before Derian Bradford canned a jumper for the Highlanders, beginning a spurt of 9-2 that gave the visitors a 67-61 edge with 4:28 to play. Brandywine got back to within four following a Kelly layup, but Jon Desir buried a corner three for Cairn with 1:10 to play, helping secure the game for the visitors.

Hockenbrock netted a team-high 15 points, while Kelly tallied 13 and Jones notched 11. Johnta Dunson (Philadelphia, Pa./Freire Charter) pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and handed out four assists. Hockenbrock posted eight boards, while Kelly grabbed six.

Brandywine shot 36 percent from the field and allowed the Highlanders nearly 48 percent shooting. Bradford paced all scorers with 26 points.

Brandywine (0-2) will play for the third time in four days Saturday when the Lions travel to Immaculata at 3:00 PM.