Box Score Philadelphia, Pa. - (11/16/2016) – The Scarlet and Gold wasted little time getting comfortable on their home floor as junior forward Ed McWade (Wildwood, N.J.) buried the first four three-pointers he saw to land the Griffins a 14-6 in the opening five minutes (14:53). The Sorgenti Arena crowd ate it up, emphatically cheering Chestnut Hill College to a 47-34 halftime lead and an eventual 72-62 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) victory over Georgian Court University. McWade finished with a game-high, and career-high, 24 points on 8-of-13 (.615) shooting. He got plenty of help from sophomore forward Dakpe Yiljep (Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria) and junior Demetrius Isaac (Philadelphia, Pa.) who combined for 33 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, and four steals.
 
Following McWade's three-point barrage, the Chestnut Hill College (1-2, 1-0) defense kept Georgian Court University (0-3, 0-1) at bay. The Griffins held a 23-16 advantage on a Lion timeout at 9:34 and they expanded the difference to 11 points, 27-16, after a layup by graduate guard J.J. Butler (Bel Air, Md.) and a tip-in by sophomore forward Bryant Quill (Pottstown, Pa.). The Lions lingered by double-digits for most of the remaining first-half clock, narrowing the deficit to seven points, 34-27, at 3:44, but falling behind by as many as 16 points, 47-31 (0:24), in the waning seconds.
 
Chestnut Hill College took the floor in the second half with a 47-34 advantage; a lead that withstood a cold opening 10 minutes for both sides. Still, the Griffins led 56-42 after a made free throw by junior guard Juwan Carter (Paterson, N.J.) at 9:12. The intensity and visitor desperation escalated form there as the Lions knocked down a three-pointer a 7:31 to return the margin to single digits, 56-47; only for Isaac, Yiljep, and McWade to push the Scarlet and Gold to a 17-point advantage, 64-47, for the final five minutes (5:22) of the game. That would be enough to evade Georgian Court University, who managed to claw the final deficit to a respectable 10 points, 72-62.

The Lions' hit 15-of-31 (.484) from the field, but their Griffin counterparts shot 17-of-29 (.586) from the floor, hitting 11 (11-of-22, .500) three point baskets and converting 11-of-15 (.733) from the free throw line while forcing the visitors into 20 turnovers. Georgian Court University placed three players in double figures; sophomore forward Nikola Vujovic (Novi Sad, Serbia) led the group with 15 points while junior guard Mike Pierre (Melrose, N.Y.) and senior forward Keith Hughes (Woodbridge, N.J.) provided 12 points apiece.
 
McWade finished 5-of-7 (.714) from three-point territory, setting a personal best for long range shooting. He also connected on 3-of-4 (.750) from the free throw line, grabbed four rebounds, provided an assist, and made two blocks in the performance. Yiljep also set a career-high with his 18 points. He additionally recorded a career-high six rebounds and a steal. Isaac totaled 15 points and facilitated the Griffin offense with three rebounds, nine assists, and three steals.
 
The Chestnut Hill College men's basketball team returns to Sorgenti Arena a week from now, on Wednesday, November 23, to challenge East Stroudsburg University in a 2:00 p.m. non-conference matinee.