Box Score Philadelphia, Pa. - (1/29/2015) – Student and teacher matched wits for a second time tonight when Dan Burke '08 and Wilmington University (Del.) visited Head Coach Jesse Balcer and Chestnut Hill College. The mentor looked destined for a season sweep when the Griffins took a 44-35 lead with 12:03 to play, but the Wildcats stunned the home crowd with a 29-6 run over the next 9:41, leaving Chestnut Hill College in their wake and making enough free throws late to seal a critical Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) decision, 75-69, and earn a split of the season series. Junior guard Luke Dickson (Pitman, N.J.) hit for a career-high 26 points behind six 3-pointers (6-of-10, 60 percent), but Burke's Wildcats solidified their playoff standing with one extended, game-breaking stretch built on a dominant performance on the glass.
 
Chestnut Hill College (4-14, 3-8) started strong and led by as many as 12 on three separate occasions in the first half, the last on a pair of free throws by senior center Filip Sekulic (Danilovgrad, Montenegro) that made it 30-18 at the 4:04 mark. Burke, a Chestnut Hill College men's basketball alumnus and former Griffin assistant, watched his Wilmington University (6-15, 5-7) squad whittle away at the spread and go into intermission trailing, 31-25.
 
Despite the visitors closing to within a single point twice in the opening minutes of the second half, Chestnut Hill College looked to be in good shape after an 11-3 spurt supplied the hosts with a nine-point margin, 44-35, with just over 12 minutes to play. From there, everything fell apart for the Griffins, who failed to keep the high-flying Wildcats off the offensive glass down the stretch. Wilmington University collected 22 second-chance points, many of them during a dominating closing sequence.
 
The Wildcats rattled off the next eight points to pull within 44-43 (10:25) before taking the lead for good on two free throws by junior guard Sam Sanders (Philadelphia, Pa.), 47-46, with 8:25 remaining. Sophomore guard Drew Johnson (Lancaster, Pa.) buried a 3-pointer, junior swingman Shai Henry (Cape May Court House, N.J.) hit a pair at the line, and Sanders scored on a put-back to push the advantage to 54-46 with 5:54 left. The bulge ballooned to 14 (64-50) with 2:22 to play before the Griffins mounted a final charge, getting as close as 70-66 on a basket by Dickson with 33 ticks showing on the clock. But the Wildcats made five of six at the line from there, holding on for a result that puts them solidly in fourth place in the CACC South Division with a 1.5-game cushion on Chestnut Hill College and Goldey-Beacom College.
 
Junior forward Ta'Vaune Griffin was particularly menacing on the glass for the Wildcats, posting a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds and blocking four Griffin shots in the post. Griffin was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field. Henry led a balanced Wilmington University arsenal with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Johnson (13) and Sanders (12) also hit double figures. Senior guard Valentino Thompson (Tinton Falls, N.J.) and sophomore guard Tyaire Ponzo-Meek (Wilmington, Del.) chipped in eight points apiece. The Wildcats grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, chasing down more than half of their misses to the tune of a 51-33 advantage on the glass.
 
Dickson finished 8-for-16 (50%) from the floor in his best performance in scarlet and gold. Senior guard Christian Walck (Lancaster, Pa.) was the only other Griffin in double figures, scoring 12 points on just 4-of-15 shooting (26.7%). Freshman guard Demetrius Isaac (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored eight points and picked off three steals in his second career start, while junior forward Noel Hightower (Easton, Pa.) stuffed the stat sheet with five points, eight rebounds, two assists, and three steals and Sekulic offered six points and seven rebounds.
 
Three players fouled out in a game in which the teams combined for 54 fouls and 73 free-throw attempts, 44 of them by Wilmington University.
 
Chestnut Hill College looks to gain ground in the CACC playoff chase on Saturday, January 31, when the Griffins visit Dominican College (NY) for a 4:00 p.m. tip.