The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team winners of three of their last four games, take to the hardwood on Thursday as they face first-place Jefferson University at Sorgenti Arena.
 

The Basics
Date:	January 20, 2022
Opponent:	Jefferson University
Location:	Philadelphia, Pa.
Time:	6:00 p.m.
Arena:	Sorgenti Arena
Chestnut Hill Info (8-6, 5-1 CACC)
Roster	Schedule	Statistics
Jefferson Info (10-3, 6-0 CACC)
Roster	Schedule	Statistics
Video:	https://caccnetwork.com/chestnuthill
Livestats:	https://bit.ly/310AJzc

The Series
Thursday's contest will be the 32^nd meeting between these two teams with the series dating back to the 2006-07 season.  The Rams won the first 11 meetings and have been triumphant in the last eight, holding a 28-3 advantage in the all-time series.  All three of chestnut Hill's victories have come at Jefferson's Gallagher Center, with the last one coming on February 23, 2016, a 74-70 win.

Conference Action
Chestnut Hill won their first three CACC games this season before losing their first CACC contest of the season on Saturday against Felician University.  Following the loss, the Griffins edged Georgian Court University 79-78 in overtime and defeated USciences  73-55 on Tuesday to improve to 5-1 in league play.  Chestnut Hill sits in second place behind Jefferson University and their 6-0 CACC record in the CACC South Division Standings. The Griffins' 3-0 conference start was their best since the 2011-12 season when Chestnut Hill won their first five CACC games of the season.  Jefferson has won four straight conference games, starting with an upset of nationally ranked Dominican College on January 8, 2022.

About the Griffins
The Griffins enter Tuesday's game with an 8-6 overall and 5-1 CACC record following following Tuesday's win over USciences, 73-55.

Chestnut Hill is being led by a pair of newcomers.  Division I transfer Nigel Haughton is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 13.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.  The sophomore guard is shooting 47.6% from the field, including a 30.0% mark from three-point range.  He is tied for second on the team with 15 three-point baskets.   Haughton also leads the team with 24 steals and 40 assists.  Freshman MJ Iraldi is averaging 12.8 points per game while shooting 49.6% from the field. (36.7% from three point range).  He is third on the team with 12 steals and is averaging 3.9 rebounds per game.

Amir Warrick is the third Griffin scoring in double figures, averaging 11.1 points per game while shooting 46.6% from the field.  Warrick is third on the team with 25 assists and second on the team with 13 steals.  He also leads the team in blocks with ten. 
 
David Erebor is averaging 8.0 points per game and is shooting a team-best 52.4% from the field (8^th in CACC).  EDrebor is second on the team in rebounds, averaging 6.3 per game.   Conor Regan is averaging 8.5 points per game and is second on the team with nine blocks. He is  averaging 5.9 rebounds per game and has 15 three-point field goals (tied for second on the team. James Rider IV recently moved into a starting role and is now averaging 8.9 points per game. He ranks fourth in the league in three-point field goal%, shooting 45.7% from three-point range (21-46).  Noah Charles is second on the team in assists with 32 and has 11 steals while averaging 4.2 points per game. 

Last time Out
Trevonn Pitts led all scorers with 18 points as the Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball Team cruised to their fifth Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference win of the season, defeating the University of the Sciences 73-55 at Sorgenti arena Tuesday night.

The Griffins improve to 8-6 overall with the win and 5-1 in CACC games.  The Devils fall to 2-11 overall and 2-5 in league play.
Pitts sank eight field goals (8-10), including two three point baskets enroute to his game high 18 points.   Amir Warrick and James Rider IV added 12 and 11 points respectively   Nigel Haughton led all players with a career-high 16 rebounds while Noah Charles paced the Griffins with five assists and three steals.

Conor Regan set the tone for the game by nailing two three point baskets in the opening minute to stake the griffins to an early 6-0 lead.  Four minutes later his layup put the Griffins ahead 20-8 and the team expanded continued to expand the lead as the half went on.  A devils basket midway through the half cut the Griffins lead to nine before a 17-2 run  capped by layups from Lucas Dunn and Warrick, gave the Griffins a 41-17 lead with just 2:34 left in the half.  A Devils three-point basket followed before the Griffins scored the final four points of the half to lead 45-20 at the break.

A layup from Haughton at the 14:40 mark gave the Griffins their biggest lead of the game, 53-24 and the Griffins still led by 27, 59-32 midway through the half when the Devils started to whittle away at the lead.  Ten straight USciences points cut the margin to 17, 59-42 with 7:01 left before baskets from Neal Hill and a three-ball from Pitts pushed the lead back up to 22, 64-42.  The Devils scored the next eight points, completing an 18-5 run run to get within 14,  64-50 with three minutes left.  Dylan Majors broke the run with a three-point basket with 1:47 left  and finished the game on a 9-5 run for the 18-point win.

Haughton Named to the CACC Weekly Honor Roll for Third Time This Season; 
Also Named to PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll on Wednesday
Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball player Nigel Haughton has been named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Weekly Honor Roll for his performance during the week ending January 16, 2022.

This week's honor marks the second consecutive week and the third time overall that Haughton has been recognized by the conference, having been named to the conference weekly honor roll last week and the first week of the season.
In addition, Haughton was named the Philadelphia Small college Basketball Association (PSCBA) Weekly honor Roll on Wednesday.

In the Griffins lone game last week, Haughton scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, had five steals and two assists as Chestnut Hill defeated Georgian court University 79-78 in overtime.  The sophomore guard shot 7-for-16 (44%) from the field and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line while playing 44 minutes.

The complete list of Chestnut Hill Men's Basketball players who have received CACC or PSCBA accolades this season is below
 

Week Ending 01/16	Nigel Haughton		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
			PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 01/09	James Rider IV		PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll
	Nigel Haughton		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 12/20	Amir Warrick		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
			PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll
Week Ending 12/12	David Erebor		CACC Weekly Honor Roll
			PSCBA Weekly Honor Roll
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

 
First Win
Chestnut Hill Head Coach J.J. Butler earned his first win as a head coach on November 17 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 Duos
Twice 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.
Chestnut Hill also had two players scored 20 or more points in their win over Bloomsburg as MJ Iraldi led the team with 21 points and Nigel Haughton added 20.  
The last time this feat occurred prior to this season was on February 18, 2020 when three members of this year's squad, Amir Warrick (28 points), Trevonn Pitts (20), and James Rider IV (20) all reached the 20-point mark.  

 

Griffins				Rams
74.0		Pts/game		75.5
73.6		Pts allowed/game		69.0
46.6		FG%		46.6
44.6		FG% Defense		44.4
33.5		3PT FG %		36.9
65.2		FT %		69.2
36.9		Rebounds/game		37.3
33.9		Rebounds allowed/gm.		33.4
3.0		Rebound margin		3.9
12.4		Assists/game		13.2

Scouting the Rams
Jefferson is 10-3 overall and 6-0 in CACC games.  The Rams sit in first place in the CACC South Division, one game ahead of Chestnut Hill.  Jefferson is riding a four game winning streak, defeating Holy Family, Nyack, USciences and upsetting nationally ranked Dominican College since the start of 2022.

Three players are averaging double figures for the Rams, led by freshman Erik Timko.  Timko is averaging 21.0 points per game and leads the CACC in scoring.  Timko is shooting 53.6% from the field  including a 42.7% (35-82) mark from three-point range.  He is also a 92.3% free throw shooting making 60 of 65 shots from the charity stripe.

Deondre Bourne is averaging 18.7 points per game and recently scored his 1,000^th career point. He is second on the team with 32 three point baskets and leads the team with 15 steals.  Antonin Kemkeng is averaging a double-double with 14.3 points per game and a league leading 12.5 rebounds per game  He also leads the league in  field goal percentage, shooting 60.8% from the field and is second on the team with ten blocks.

Darrius Kinnel is the leading playmaker with 45 assists while Bismark Nsiah leads the team with 12 blocks.
Jefferson is averaging 79 points per game in their six conference wins while shooting nearly 50% from the field (49.7%).  They've held conference opponents to just 63.3 points per game
 

Last Time Out for Jefferson
PHILADELPHIA – The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (10-3, 6-0 CACC) pulled out a 71-66 victory over visiting Holy Family on Tuesday night, upping the Rams' win streak to four.
 
Leading 37-31 at the half, HFU registered the opening five points of the second half to get within one (37-36). It was a one-point game again at 39-38 then the Rams created some space with an 8-0 surge. Erik Timko netted five points and Deondre Bourne hit another three. The Tigers rallied with a 10-2 run to trail by one (49-48). The teams went back and forth as it remained a one-possession game until Timko's layup at 8:32 made it 55-50 in favor of Jefferson. Timko drilled a triple at 6:06 to give the Rams a six-point cushion (62-56) but Holy Family responded with five points in a row to close the gap to one (62-61).
 
Darius Kinnel sank a huge three for Jefferson to restore a four-point margin (65-61) with 3:34 on the clock. After a Tigers layup, Bourne was fouled on a three-point shot and made all three buckets at the foul line to make it 68-63. However, Holy Family answered with a three-pointer to get within two again (68-66) at the 1:07 mark. After a miss by Jefferson, the Tigers were off the mark on a layup and the Rams got the rebound. Bourne went to the stripe and converted one of two free throws, giving Holy Family a chance down three (69-66). The Tigers got an open look at the potential tying basket from beyond the arc but it did not go down. Timko grabbed the board and made both shots at the line to ice the game.
 
Bourne led the team with 29 points while Timko chipped in 18.  Bismark Nsiah added 13 points while Antonin Kemking led all players with 15 rebounds.