The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team battled throughout their contest Saturday Felician University but came out short, falling to the Golden Falcons 86-77 Saturday afternoon at Sorgenti Arena.

The loss was the Griffins first Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference defeat of the season after starting the year 3-0.  It was also their first home loss of the 2021-22 season.  The Griffins are now 6-6 overall and 3-1 in league play. Felician improves to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in league games.

Four players scored in double figures for the Griffins, led by James Rider IV's 16 points.  Nigel Haughton added 13 points, five assists and five rebounds while MJ Iraldi returned to action with a 12-point (5-7 FG) effort. Trevonn Pitts rounded out the double figure scorers for the Griffins with ten points (5-9 FG).  Conor Regan led the team with eight rebounds while Amir Warrick grabbed seven.

After starting the second half deadlocked at 39-39, the Griffins built a five-point lead 59-54 in the first 7:30 of the period before the Golden Falcons battled back with a 22-11 spurt to turn the tide their way and lead 76-70 with 4:38 remaining.  Baskets by Haughton and Pitts cut the deficit to two 76-74 with 3:50 left.  However, the Golden Falcons closed out the game with another run, this one a 10-3 uprising to pull away for the nine-point win.  The Griffins lone basket in the final 3:50 was a three-point bucket from Regan with 47 seconds left.

Felician also held a nine-point lead in the first half, 33-24, with 6:47 remaining.  The Griffins then rallied with a 13-4 run to tie the score at 37-37 with 1:34 left.  Rider started the run with three free throws while Haughton added five points.  Iraldi's three-point basket with 1:34 tied the game at 37-37.  Both teams exchanged baskets in the final minute to head into the locker room tied at 39-39 at halftime.
Six players scored in double figures for the Golden Falcons, led by Jaylen Colon's 20 points.  Justin Davis added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Dee-End McRae also scored 14 points while Nas Amos and Jay'von Jackson added 13 apiece.  Jackson also had nine rebounds.  Sean McCarthy finished with ten points and eight rebounds.

The Golden Falcons made five more field goals than the Griffins (34-29) were slightly better shooting from the field (50% to 47.5%).   Free throws were essentially a wash (13-12 Felician) and the
Griffins did have two more three-point baskets (7-5).  Felician however dominated the boards, out-rebounding Chestnut Hill 40-30 (12-7 on the offensive glass) and held a 16-7 advantage in second chance points.  Both teams committed just 11 turnovers.

The Chestnut Hill Men's Basketball team returns to action on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 when they travel to face CACC South Division Rival Georgian Court University for a 2:00 PM tipoff in Lakewood, New Jersey.