Four players scored double figures as the Chestnut Hill College men's basketball team held off a late rally by Goldey-Beacom College to defeat the Lightning 73-68 Saturday afternoon at Sorgenti Arena in Philadelphia.
 
The Griffins remain undefeated in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) games (2-0) with the win and improve to 3-4 overall.   The Lightning fall to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in league play.
 
MJ Iraldi led all scorers with 17 points (87-11 FG) while James Rider IV came off the bench to add 13 points.  David Erebor and Nigel Haughton each had ten points and a team-leading eight rebounds apiece.  Amir Warrick led the team with three assists.
  
Trevonn Pitts' layup with two minutes remaining in the game gave the Griffins an 11-point lead 70-59.  The Lightning then scored the next six points to close the gap to five with 1:01 remaining.  Iraldi got an open layup at the 40-second mark to make it a three-possession game 72-65 and with the Lightning now forced to foul, Haughton made one-of-two from the line to push the lead to eight 73-65 with just 26 seconds remaining.    GBC's Nazim Derry added a three-point bucket with four seconds left to make the final score 73-68.
 
The Lightning did jump out to a six-point lead 21-15 midway through the opening quarter. The Griffins followed with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 23-23 and later took a 28-27 lead on a Noah Charles layup. The lead oscillated back and forth until the final minute when Rider nailed a three-point basket to put the griffins up five 36-31.  Derry added a free throw in the final seconds cutting the lead to 36-32 at halftime.
 
The Griffins gradually opened their lead in the second half, boosting it to ten, 52-42 on another three-point goal from Rider at the 13:00 minute mark.  The Lightning struck back, cutting the lead in half with a 10-5 run to trail 57-52 with 7:40 remaining. Chestnut Hill's lead continued to flutter between six and eight points until Pitts put them back up by double digits in the final two minutes.
 
For the game the Griffins shot 46.4% from the field (32-69) while the Lightning were slightly better at 50% (28-56).  GBC made five more three-point field goals (8-3) and neither team shot well from the free throw line (6-15 CHC, 4-8 GBC).  The Griffins held a 42-30 rebounding advantage including a17-5 mark on the offensive glass.  This led to 16 second chance points (GBC had 7).  Chestnut Hill also committed two fewer turnovers 14-16.
 
Juran Ligonde came off the bench to lead the Lightning with 17 points.  Derry added 15 while Ese Efekodo and Tyler Jones had 12 and 11 points respectively.

The Chestnut Hill men's basketball team returns to action on Tuesday when they host the University of the District of Columbia in a non-league game at Sorgenti arena.  Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.