The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team returns home on Saturday for their second Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) game of the season, hosting Goldey-Beacom College at the Sorgenti Arena.
The Series:
Saturday's contest will be the 27
th meeting between Goldey-Beacom and Chestnut Hill since the series began in 2008. Goldey-Beacom holds a 16-10 advantage in the all-time series while the Griffins are 7-6 all-time against the Lightning at Sorgenti Arena. The Lightning have won the last eight contests played between the two teams with the Griffins last win coming on 12/6/2016, 76-62 at Sorgenti Arena.
CACC Action:
Both Goldey-Beacom and Chestnut Hill won their respective conference season openers on Wednesday are 1-0 in conference play. The Lightning defeated Georgian Court University 88-75 while the Griffins handed Holy Family University a 67-58 loss.
About the Griffins:
The Griffins enter tonight's game with an 2-4 record, having won their conference opener over Holy Family University earlier this week and defeating Bloomsburg in their home opener on November 17, 2021.
A trio of Griffins are averaging double figures through the first six games of the season.
Nigel Haughton is averaging 16.2 points per game while shooting 50.8% from the field and 44% from three point range. Haughton is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game. He also leads the team with 14 assists and 11 steals.
MJ Iraldi averages 15.2 points per game and is shooting 46.5% from the field and is the team's second leading rebounder at 5.7 per game.
Amir Warrick rounds out the trio of double figure scorers, averaging 10.3 per game.
David Erebor is the teams leading rebounder, pulling down 6.7 per game.
Conor Regan leads the team with seven blocks through the first six games.
Last time Out
A well-balanced offense that saw six different players score at least eight points and some timely defense in the final minutes of the game propelled the Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team to a 67-58 win over Holy Family University Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
The win was the Griffins first in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opening game since the 2016-17 season as well as third third straight victory over the Tigers, having swept the season series in 2019-20. The Griffins improve to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in league play while the Tigers fall to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league contests. The win was also just the Griffins third win at Holy Family since 2003.
Nigel Haughton led all players with 14 points while
Amir Warrick and
MJ Iraldi added 12 and 10 respectively.
David Erebor chipped in nine points and grabbed ten rebounds.
Conor Regan led the team with 11 rebounds while scoring eight points.
Trevonn Pitts came off the bench to score eight points. Regan also dished out a team high four assists and recorded three blocks.
Two honors this week for Warrick
Amir Warrick earned a pair of honors this week for his performance in the Griffins game at West Chester prior to Thanksgiving. On Monday he was named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Weekly Honor Roll , while on Wednesday he was named to the Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association's Weekly Honor Roll.
Warrick led the team with 23 points and ten rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season.
The junior forward scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half and finished the game shooting 53% from the field, connecting on nine of 17 shots. Warrick also added three assists, three blocks and a steal
Dynamic Duo- Part II
For the second time this season, the Griffins had two players score 20 or more points in a single game. Against West Chester,
Amir Warrick scored a team-high 23 points while
Nigel Haughton added 22. 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.
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 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 |
First Win for Butler
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), Trevon Pitts (20), and James Rider (20) all reached the 20-point mark.
An Impressive Debut
Freshman
MJ Iraldi made eight of 11 shots from the field en route to 19 points in his collegiate debut Saturday against Adelphi. 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.
Philadelphia Small College Basketball
Iraldi was one of six area players under consideration for the Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association's Player of the Week honor for November 15, 2021 which was announced via social media last Wednesday and awarded to Manny Toha of Holy Family. He was also under consideration among 15 area players for the honor the following week (November 22, 2021).
The Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association (PSCBA) is an organization devoted to the promotion of small college basketball in the Philadelphia area that has been in existence since 1986. The Player of the Week Award, once only given out at the organization's bi-monthly luncheons has been expanded to a weekly honor in an effort to further promote small college basketball in the area.
An Impressive Debut- Part II
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 and Lightning Comparison
| Griffins |
|
|
|
Lightning |
| 70.8 |
|
Pts/game |
|
75.6 |
| 77.2 |
|
Pts allowed/game |
|
75.9 |
| 44.6 |
|
FG% |
|
45.4 |
| 45.1 |
|
FG% Defense |
|
45.6 |
| 34.7 |
|
3PT FG % |
|
34.3 |
| 67.2 |
|
FT % |
|
74.0 |
| 35.2 |
|
Rebounds/game |
|
35.4 |
| 35.8 |
|
Rebounds allowed/gm. |
|
34.6 |
| -0.7 |
|
Rebound margin |
|
0.9 |
| 12.3 |
|
Assists/game |
|
13.7 |
Scouting the Lightning
The Lightning have three players averaging double figures through their first seven games led by Nazim Derry who is averaging 22.0 points per game while shooting 46.6% from the field and 76.2% from the free throw line. Derry leads the team with 15 steals and is averaging 5.9 rebounds per game.
Mekhi Collins and Tyler Jones are both averaging 15.3 points per game. Collins is shooting a team best 53.8% from the field and 84.6% from the free throw line. Collins and Jones lead the team with 30 assists apiece and are averaging 6.3 and 5.7 rebounds per game respectively.
Last Time Out for Goldey-Beacom
Goldey-Beacom made the second half its time to shine as it dominated Georgian Court in that span for an 88-75 triumph in both teams Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opener at the Jones Center in Wilmington, DE.
The game provided yet another showcase for sophomore
Nazim Derry, who ended with a career-high 35 points on 11-of-17 shooting and drilled a personal best nine 3-pointers.
Malcolm Weathers netted a season-best 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting with sophomore
Mekhi Collins adding 11 and eight assists for the Lightning (3-4, 1-0 CACC), who shot 57 percent (33-of-58) from the field along with netting 17 three-pointers.
Clint Wright Jr. scored 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, Jelani Jackson netted 17, Andreas VonFricke poured in 16 and Shane Williams added 10 for the Lions (1-5, 0-1), who shot 53 percent (28-of-53) overall but committed 17 turnovers.
