We're taking a look back at all-time great Chestnut Hill College Athletics games as part of our Griffin Classics series. Check out previous stories:
It was a challenging start to the 2019-20 season for a young Chestnut Hill College men's basketball team.
A roster filled with newcomers took on a tough schedule in the opening weeks of the slate, leaving the Griffins searching for their first win heading into a mid-December Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) matchup with Holy Family.
The Tigers had earned back-to-back wins to kick off conference play, but it was Chestnut Hill College that had a chip on its shoulder.
The Scarlet and Gold finally had most of their roster available, with freshman guard Ahmad Bickley (Philadelphia, Pa.) joining in the days prior to playing Holy Family, and sophomores Trevonn Pitts (Wyncote, Pa.) and Keyon Butler (Chester, Pa.) gearing up for season debuts in a slew of games at the start of winter break.
The trio would all start against the Tigers for the first time during the campaign.
"We had a confidence that the team had not felt in a long time. We knew that with all of our guys, we could compete with anyone in the conference," said Jesse Balcer, Chestnut Hill College Director of Athletics and Recreation who coached the men's basketball program for 17 years through the end of the 2019-20 season.
Bickley, Butler, and Pitts impacted the game from the get-go. The sophomores matched freshman Scottie Spann Jr. (Philadelphia, Pa.) for the team-high with eight points, while Bickley led all players with five assists as the Griffins went into the break up 33-32.
The Scarlet and Gold had its chances early in the season to get in the win column, heading into halftime with a lead twice before. The Griffins hung around in previous games but had a habit of letting tight ones slip away in the second half.
It looked like they were finally going to turn the tide, going up by as many as 12 points in the second half and leading by double digits with four minutes remaining.
Yet Holy Family still had once last charge in them.
The Tigers used a 9-2 run to make it a one-possession game with just over a minute to go. Butler knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the Griffins' lead, but Holy Family continued to have an answer, scoring on its next trip down the floor and getting a defensive stop to regain possession down three points with 24 seconds remaining.
Chestnut Hill College forced a miss on the Tigers' first attempt, but they grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to their junior guard Brendan Hoban, who drained the game-tying three with 10 seconds to go.
Despite momentum shifting, the Griffins went straight on the attack after the basket.
"I felt like we had a better chance of scoring just off our abilities rather than trying to call a timeout and execute when we had a few guys that had not really played with us for long," Balcer said.
Bickley took the ball up the floor and laid it off for sophomore forward Amir Warrick (Washington, D.C.).
With the clock winding down, Warrick launched from three. A Sorgenti Arena crowd ready to erupt watched on, going into a frenzy as the shot was drained.
"I remember being so excited and emotional when the buzzer finally went off," Balcer said. "My daughters ran across the court to give me a hug and it was special, but I had to get in line and shake hands so we were not showing up the other team. When I got in the locker room, I had to get a little crazy with the guys so I showed off some dance moves!"
The win was Chestnut Hill College's first in conference play in 24 games dating back to February 2018. It was also the start of a positive turnaround for the program, putting itself into CACC playoff contention with six wins in the conference, the Griffins most since the 2015-16 season.
This season marked the end of Balcer's time as head coach of Griffin men's basketball. Balcer, who stepped away to focus on his role in the athletic department administration, has been there since day one of the program's history.
"This team was the last of my long career and I have so much love for the way they came together," Balcer said. "We were a true FAMILY in every sense of the word. There was never finger pointing but a lot of encouragement and support for each other every step of the way. The program has a bright future all because of the guys that were on this team."
