The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team will play their final home game before breaking for final exams on Saturday when they host the Mercy College Mavericks at Sorgenti Arena.
  The Series:
Saturday's game will be the fourth meeting between the two teams.  The Griffins hold a 2-1 advantage with each team winning on the other's court and the Griffins recording a 115-109 double overtime neutral floor win in November 2017, the last time these two teams met.

Non-Conference Action:
The Griffins are 2-4 in non-conference games this season with home wins against UDC on 12/7 (78-66) and Bloomsburg on 11/17 (76-69). They have losses to two Northeast-10 schools (Pace, Adelphi) and a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools (Lock Haven and West Chester)

About the Griffins:
The Griffins enter tonight's game with an 4-4 record, riding a three-game winning streak.  Chestnut Hill defeated CACC opponents Holy Family University and Goldey-Beacom College. And a non-conference win over UDC.  The Griffins' three-game winning streak is the longest since they won three in a row in February 2014 and is the first time Chestnut Hill opened CACC play with two straight wins since the 2011-12 season.
The Griffins are being led by by a pair of newcomers.  Division I transfer Nigel Haughton is the team's leading scorer, averaging 14.1 points per game.  The sophomore guard is shooting 48.2% from the field, including a 37.9% mark from three-point rang with a team-high 11 three-point baskets.   Haughton also leads the team with 15 steals.  True freshman MJ Iraldi is averaging 13.9 points per game while shooting 50% from the field.  He is also second on the team with ten steals.
Amir Warrick is the third Griffin scoring in double figures, averaging 10.6 points per game.  He leads the team in both blocks (9) and assists (18). David Erebor is Chestnut Hill's leading rebounder, averaging 7.3 per game.  Erebor averages 9.3 points per game and is shooting a team-best 53.1% from the field.  Conor Regan is averaging 9.0 points per game and is second on the team with eight blocks and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Last time Out
Five Players reached double figures as the Chestnut Hill men's basketball team rallied from a first half deficit to convincingly defeat the University of the District of Columbia 78-66 Tuesday night at Sorgenti Arena in Philadelphia.

The win was the Griffins' third straight and evens their record at 4-4.  UDC falls to 1-8 on the season.

Conor Regan made six of eight shots from the field including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range to lead Chestnut Hill with 17 points.  Amir Warrick scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and finished the game shooting 7-for-11 from the field.   David Erebor added 11 points and a game high ten rebounds to record his second double-double of the season.  Erebor also had a team-high three assists.

Rounding out the Griffins' double figure scorers were Trevonn Pitts and James Rider IV who scored 11 points apiece.  Noah Charles and MJ Iraldi also had three assists apiece to tie for the team lead.

Chestnut Hill used a 10-6 run in the first four minutes of the second half to tie the game at 46-46, then exploded with a 21-2 uprising over the next seven minutes to take a 19-point lead 67-48.  The Griffins connected on eight of ten shots during the run which was highlighted by eight points from Rider and five from Pitts.  UDC's Tevin Curtis broke the spurt with a three-pointer at the 7:47 mark but Rider countered with his third trey of the game and Pitts followed with a dunk off a steal to boost the lead to 72-51 their largest of the game.    The CHC lead oscillated between 17 and 21 points until the final three minutes as the Firebirds scored the final seven points of the game to make the final margin a 12-point win for the Griffins.

Two honors this week for Iraldi
MJ Iraldi earned two honors for his performance in the Griffins two games last week.  On Monday he was named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Basketball Weekly Honor roll while on Wednesday he was named to the Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association's (PSCBA) Weekly Honor Roll.

The CACC honor was his second of the season having previous been named in the second week of the season ending November 21, 2021.  The PSCBA honor was his first of the season.

In leading the Griffins to their first 2-0 start in CACC games since the 2011-12 season, Iraldi scored 27 points while grabbing eight rebounds.  The freshman small forward shot a team-best 52.6% from the field in Chestnut Hill's two games (10-19).

For the week, Iraldi averaged 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and one steal while shooting 70% from the free throw line and 52.6% from the field.

Conference Honors
The Griffins have had at least one player earn conference honors in each week of the 2021-22 season. The complete list is below.
 

Week Ending 12/5	MJ Iraldi		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
			PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 11/28	Amir Warrick		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
			PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 11/21	MJ Iraldi		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 11/14	Nigel Haughton		CACC Weekly Honor Roll

Dynamic Duo- Part II
For the second time this season, the Griffins had two players score 20 or more points in a single game when they played West Chester on November 21. Amir Warrick scored a team-high 23 points while Nigel Haughton added 22 against the Golden Rams. This marks the 15^th time since the 2014-15 season that Chestnut Hill has had at least two players score 20 or more points in a single game.

First Win
Chestnut Hill Head Coach J.J. Butler earned his first win as a head coach last Wednesday night as his Griffins defeated Bloomsburg University 76-69.  Two newcomers MJ Iraldi and Nigel Haughton were the catalysts for the Griffins as was David Erebor on defense.  Iraldi and Haughton combined for 41 points while Erebor had four blocks and eight rebounds while also contributing 11 points.

Dynamic Duo
Chestnut Hill had two players scored 20 or more points in Wednesday night's win over Bloomsburg as MJ Iraldi led the team with 21 points and Nigel Haughton added 20.   This marks just the 14^th time since 2015 that the Griffins had at least two players score 20 or more points in the same game. (a span of 139 games)
The last time this feat occurred was on February 18, 2020 when three members of this year's squad, Amir Warrick (28 points), Trevonn Pitts (20), and James Rider (20) all reached the 20-point mark.  

Impressive Debuts
Freshman MJ Iraldi made eight of 11 shots from the field en route to 19 points in his collegiate debut against Adelphi on November 13. The following day, Iraldi made seven of 14 shots including three three-point baskets as he led the Griffins with 17 points in their 66-61 loss at Pace.  Iraldi shot 56% from the field in the two games and 50% from beyond the arc (5-10).  He also grabbed nine rebounds in the two games.  

Nigel Haughton made his Chestnut Hill College debut in the Griffins' season opener against Adelphi, scoring 24 points.  The Towson University transfer connected on 10 of 12 shots from the field, including one three-point basket.  Haughton also grabbed five rebounds and recorded three assists and two steals.  He added 12 points and seven rebounds the next day in a 66-61 loss at Pace University
 
 

Griffins				Mavericks
72.0		Pts/game		59.4
74.6		Pts allowed/game		77.9
46.1		FG%		37.5
46.2		FG% Defense		48.4
35.9		3PT FG %		30.7
62.7		FT %		60.4
34.3		Rebounds/game		34.6
34.3		Rebounds allowed/gm.		39.0
0.0		Rebound margin		-4.4
12.3		Assists/game		7.9

Scouting the Mavericks
The Mavericks are 0-7 overall and 0-1 in East Coast Conference games.    Four of the Mavericks losses came at the hands of CACC opponents. The team is 0-3 on the road 
James Taylor Jr. leads three Mercy players in scoring in double figures, averaging 12.2 points per game. Elijah Mitchell and Garrett Kirkland are averaging 10.3 points per game.  Mitchell also leads the team in assists (14) and steals (11).
Jayden Dewaal is Mercy's leading rebounder, grabbing 8.2 per game.  He also leads the team in field goal%  shooting 53.1% from the field  and has a team-high eight blocks on the season.  Brandon Wilson is averaging 4.3 rebounds per game and is second on the team with ten assists.

Last Time Out for Mercy
Despite a game-high-tying 16 points from junior James Taylor Jr.  the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a 93-63 decision to St. Thomas Aquinas College in their ECC opener on Wednesday night at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (0-7, 0-1 ECC) remain winless on the year, while the Spartans (7-3, 1-0 ECC) have won three straight games.
Taylor Jr. went 8-of-10 from the foul line and had two rebounds. Sophomores Jay Turner and Justinas Norkus each had nine points and junior Brandon Wilson had eight points. Sophomores Jayden Dewaal and Alex May each netted seven points off the bench.