Four players reached double figures as the Chestnut Hill Men's Basketball Team earned their first win of the season, defeating Bloomsburg University 76-69 in front of a packed house at Sorgenti Arena in Philadelphia Wednesday night.

The win was also the first for Chestnut Hill Head Coach JJ Butler as the Griffins improve to 1-2 with the victory.  Bloomsburg falls to 0-1.
MJ Iraldi led the Griffins with 21 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line.  Nigel Haughton added 20 points (7-12 FG, 4-4 FT).  Amir Warrick and David Erebor added 11 points apiece.  Warrick also led the team with four assists while Erebor had eight rebounds and four blocks.

The Griffins led by seven early in the first half before the Huskies battled back to tie the score at 9-9 at the 15:12 mark.  The tie was the first of 12 ties that occurred throughout the game.   Chestnut Hill's lead oscillated between one and three points over the next eight minutes until Bloomsburg added four straight points to take their first lead at 21-20 with 7:14 left.   Over the next three minute the Huskies increased their lead to five and still led 30-25 with three minutes remaining in the half.  CHC's offense regained the momentum heading into halftime, rattling off an 11-3 run to close out the half and take a 36-33 lead.

A 6-0 run to open the second half pushed the Griffins lead to their biggest margin 42-33 just three minutes into the final stanza.    Bloomsburg countered with an 11-0 run to retake the lead 44-42.  Haughton broke the drought with a three-ball at the 13:57 mark and added two free throws on CHC's next possession.  Two possessions later Warrick put the Griffins up by five 49-44 with 12:21 left.  Two baskets later the Huskies again tied the score at 49-49.  

The next six minutes saw a total of four lead changes and six ties with neither team leading by more than three.  Iraldi's free throws a with five minutes left put the Griffins up by four and started a 10-5 run by the Griffins to expand their lead to seven in the final minute.  The run was capped with two straight dunks, first by Conor Regan and the second by Iraldi putting the game out of reach at that point.
 
The Griffins shot 50.8% from the field (30-59) and connected on 13 of 17 free throw attempts (76.5%).  The Huskies made 29 of 68 shots (42.6%) and made seven of 14 free throws (50%).  The Huskies held a big 45-30 rebounding advantage, much of which came on the offensive glass as they pulled down 18 offensive boards to CHC's four which led to a 19-2 advantage in the second chance points category.

The Chestnut Hill College men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, November 20, 2021 when they travel to face Lock Haven University for a non-conference regional match.  Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.