Philadelphia, PA – (1/19/2011) – With an inside-outside attack Chestnut Hill College earned a momentous 74-61 win over Philadelphia University this evening. Using an early charge to fuel the victory, the Griffins only turned the ball over seven times while showing hustle and heart in their first triumph over their cross-town, Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) rival. Sophomore guard Jakeem Bogans (Philadelphia, PA) spirited the Griffins with, a career-high, 16 points off the bench while junior center Dan Comas (Philadelphia, PA) complimented the perimeter play with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Chestnut Hill College (5-9, 2-4) wasted no time gaining the upper hand as they established a nine-point advantage just 4:27 (15:33) into the opening half, 12-3. Six minutes later (9:42) Philadelphia University (9-6, 4-2) evened the contest at 17-17, but the Griffins had set the tone. With a late first-half surge they owned a 33-29 halftime advantage and following intermission the Griffins expanded their advantage to nine, 48-39. Again the Rams answered, knotting the contest by the five minute mark, 56-56. Not to be denied, Comas and Bogans ignited the Griffins on an 18-5 closing run with sophomore guard Mark DiRugeris Jr. (Woodbury, NJ) sinking the clinching free throws.
Junior forward Corey Francisco (Woodbridge, NJ) led Philadelphia University with 19 points and eight rebounds while the Griffins held the Rams leading scorer, sophomore guard Jimmy Connolly (Harleysville, PA), to 13 points on 2-of-13 (15.4%) shooting. Junior forward J.J. Gundry (McAdoo, PA) and freshman guard Nick Christian (Bensalem, PA) recorded ten points apiece.
Comas was 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the floor and 6-of-7 (85.7%) at the line while hustling to eight rebounds for the Griffins. Bogans played a crucial role off the bench, hitting three from long range in a 5-of-9 (55.6%) shooting performance . DiRugeris offered 12 points in a persevering effort.
The men's basketball team heads to Post University for their next CACC contest; a 3:00 p.m. contest on Saturday, January 22.
