The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team got back on the winning track Wednesday night as they held off a furious second half comeback attempt by Holy Family University to defeat the Tigers 63-59 at Sorgenti Arena.

The Griffins improve to 10-7 overall and 7-2 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games.  The Tigers fall to 7-14 overall and 2-9 in league play.

Amir Warrick and MJ Iraldi led all scorers with 15 points apiece.  Warrick also grabbed a team high nine rebounds.  James Rider IV added nine points while David Erebor came off the bench to score seven while grabbing six rebounds.  Conor Regan had three blocks.

Chestnut Hill scored the first seven points and jumped out to a 12-2 lead following two free throws from Warrick.  Still leading by ten at 20-10, Erebor added two straight baskets to push the lead to 24-11 and continued to expand the lead as the half wore on, pushing the margin as high as 16, 35-19 with their final points of the period, an Iraldi layup. 

Regan opened the second half with a three-point basket to give the Griffins their biggest lead of the game at 38-19.  The Tigers followed with a 16-7 run to cut the lead to ten, 45-35 with 121:26 remaining and cut the deficit to single digits less than two minutes later, 47-39.  Rider's three-point basket again put the Griffins up by double digits but the Tigers clawed they way back with a 9-1 run to make it a one possession game 51-48 with 6:51 left.   Both teams exchanged three-point baskets and later free throws to keep the score within three 56-53 with 3:21 left. 

A minute later HFU's Eric Esposito sank a three-point basket to tie the game at 56-56.  With both teams again exchanging points, the game remained tied as it entered the final minute of play.  A great back door cut by Noah Charles with a perfect pass fed to him by Erebor put the Griffins back up by two 60-58 with 38 seconds left.  Nigel Haughton added a free throw with 12 seconds to go to push the lead back to three 61-59.  Chestnut Hill fouled to prevent a game tying three-point basket and the Tigers made the first free throw and then turned the ball over on a lane violation on the second.  Haughton ended the scoring with two more free throws with 1.6 seconds left.

Esposito led four Tigers in double figures with 13 points and also grabbing ten rebounds for a double-double.  Rick'Keem Mixson added 12, Manny Toha 11 and Daniel Fleming ten points. 

The Griffins shot 35.8% for the game (19-53) while the Tigers, who made two more field goals, shot 33.9% (21-62).  Chestnut Hill doubled up the Tigers beyond the arc, hitting six threes to their three and made five more free throws. The Griffins held a 43-40 rebound advantage.   

The Griffins return to action on Saturday, January 29, 2022 when they travel to Wilmington University to face the Wildcats.  This game is a rescheduled contest for the game on January 5, 2020 which was postponed.  Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.