The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team returns home looking to put another game into the win column as they face Wilmington University on Saturday as they pursue a home playoff game
| The Basics |
| Date: |
February 19, 2022 |
| Opponent: |
Wilmington University |
| Location: |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
| Time: |
1:00 PM |
| Arena: |
Sorgenti Center |
|
| Chestnut Hill Info (12-11, 9-6 CACC) |
| Roster |
Schedule |
Statistics |
| Wilmington Info (9-17, 6-10 CACC) |
| Roster |
Schedule |
Statistics |
|
|
| Video/Livestats: |
https://griffinathletics.com/coverage |
The Series
Saturday's game will be the 28
th meeting and the second this season between Wilmington and Chestnut Hill. The Wildcats won the first meeting this season at Wilmington 84-80 and lead the all-time series 15- 12. Wilmington has also won the last four contests at Sorgenti Arena with the Griffins' last win coming on February 9, 2016 (86-78)
Conference Action
Chestnut Hill fell to 9-6 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) games with Tuesday's loss at Jefferson, enabling the Rams to clinch the Division title. The Griffins remain in second place in the CACC South Division, one game ahead of third place Goldey-Beacom. Wilmington is 6-10 in league play and sits in fourth place in the CACC south division. The Wildcats have won their last two CACC games.
About the Griffins
The Griffins enter Saturday's game with a 12-11 overall record and an 9-6 mark in CACC games.
A trio of players are averaging double figures to lead the Griffins offense. Freshman
MJ Iraldi is averaging 13.7 points per game. The freshman guard/small forward is shooting 48.7% from the field. (34.6% from three-point range). He is fourth on the team with 14 steals and is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game (5
th on the team).
He was named CACC Rookie of the Week on Monday for his performance in the Griffins two games last week.
Amir Warrick is the second Griffin scoring in double figures, averaging 13.0 points per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Warrick is second on the team, averaging 5.6 rebounds/game and ranks third on the team with 40 assists and 13 blocks and second on the team with 25 steals. He was named to the CACC Weekly honor roll for his performance in the Griffins two games last week.
Division I transfer
Nigel Haughton is the team's leading rebounder and playmaker, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game and 3.0 assists per game. The sophomore guard is also averaging 12.2 points/game and is shooting 42.4% from the field. He is third on the team with 22 three-point baskets. Haughton also leads the team with 34 steals and 68 assists. Against Caldwell last Saturday Haughton pulled down 15 rebounds.
James Rider IV is averaging 9.9 points per game. Rider is second in the league in three-point field goal % shooting 46.3% (38-82). He has made 27of 29 free throws for a 93.1% average.
Conor Regan is averaging 9.0 points per game, is second on the team with 31 three-point field goals and fourth in rebounding (5.0/game) He leads the team in blocks with 18.
David Erebor is averaging 6.2 points per game and is shooting 49.6% from the field. Erebor is third on the team in rebounds, averaging 5.5 per game and moved into second place on the team with 13 blocks after his four-block effort on Saturday.
Noah Charles is second on the team in assists with 53 and third in steals with 21 while averaging 4.2 points per game.
Trevonn Pitts is averaging 9.5 points per game and is fifth on the team with 12 steals but has missed several games due to an injury.
Last time Out
Philadelphia, Pa. - The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team fell victim to cold shooting as Jefferson University jumped out to an early lead and made it stand as they cruised to an 82-62 win over the Griffins.
The loss drops the Griffins record to 12-11 overall and 9-6 in Central Atlantic collegiate conference games. Jefferson improves to 17-5 overall and 17-2 in league play.
Amir Warrick (Washington, D.C.) led the Griffins with 19 points and eight rebounds.
MJ Iraldi (West Deptford, N.J.) added 16 points and six rebounds.
Nigel Haughton (Bel Air, Md.) chipped in seven rebounds.
The Griffins made just two of their first 12 shots as Jefferson jumped out to an early 23-4 lead in the first half forcing the Griffins to again play come-from-behind basketball. Chestnut Hill cut the lead down to 14, 25-11 with 7:10 left but the Rams built the lead back up to 19 by halftime 41-22 with a basket at the buzzer.
A 9-4 run by the Griffins to open the second half brought the Griffins within 14, 45-31.
Conor Regan's (Mullica Hill, N.J.) three-pointer at the 14:36 mark brought the Griffins within 11, 47-36 and the Griffins later cut the margin to ten 50-40 on
Noah Charles (Columbia, Md.) layup. Warrick's traditional three-point play brought he Jefferson lead to single digits 55-46 with 8:20 left. Jefferson responded with a 15-3 uprising to take a 70-49 lead with four minutes remaining before settling in for the 82-62 win.
Iraldi Named CACC Rookie of the Week and PSCBA Player of the Week; Warrick Named to CACC Weekly Honor Roll
Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball players
MJ Iraldi and
Amir Warrick were recognized by the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference for their performances during the Griffins two games last week.
Iraldi was named the CACC Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week while Warrick was named to the CACC Men's Basketball Weekly Honor Roll. This is Iraldi's first Rookie of the Week honor after earning Weekly honor roll status twice previously. For Warrick, this marks the fourth time he has been named to the conference weekly honor roll.
In addition, on Wednesday Iraldi was selected as the Philadelphia Small College Basketball Association's Player of the Week in voting done byh the PSCBA Executive Board
Iraldi averaged 18.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 60% from the field in leading the Griffins to a 1-1 week.
Opening the week against CACC powerhouse Dominican College, Iraldi scored 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. He also grabbed four rebounds and had an assist and a steal.
Iraldi tied his career high with 21 points in Chestnut Hills 70-64 win over Caldwell University. The freshman guard/forward connected on eight of 16 shots from the field while grabbing five rebounds and recording one assist.
For the week, Iraldi scored 37 points while shooting 15-for-25 (60%), including a 2-4 effort from three point range. He was nearly perfect from the free throw line (5-6) and grabbed a total of nine rebounds.
Warrick put up similar numbers last week, scoring wise, averaging 18.0 points per game while shooting 50% from the field. He also averaged six rebounds and four assists per game.
Opening the week against Dominican Warrick scored 24 points, connecting on 11 of 17 shots (64.7%) from the field. He also dished out a season high five assists while grabbing six rebounds in the Griffins 97-82 loss.
The junior forward added 12 points and six rebounds in Chestnut Hill's 70-64 win over Caldwell, allowing the Griffins to clinch a playoff spot in the upcoming CACC playoffs. Warrick also recorded three assists in the game.
For the week, Warrick scored 36 points, while shooting 15-for-30 (50%) from the field. He grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded eight assists and one block.
The complete list of Chestnut Hill Men's Basketball players who have received CACC or PSCBA accolades this season is below:
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
Four times this season the Griffins had two players score 20 or more points in a season when
Conor Regan and
Amir Warrick had 23 and 24 points respectively against Dominican Wednesday night. This marks the 17
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.
One week earlier senior
James Rider IV poured in a career high 31 points while teammate
Conor Regan added 20.
Earlier this season the Griffins had two games with two players scoring 20 or more. 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. 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.
Prior to this season, the last time this feat occurred 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 and Wildcats Comparison
| Griffins |
|
|
|
Wildcats |
| 74.0 |
|
Pts/game |
|
70.8 |
| 74.2 |
|
Pts allowed/game |
|
74.9 |
| 45.0 |
|
FG% |
|
44.8 |
| 44.6 |
|
FG% Defense |
|
43.6 |
| 34.0 |
|
3PT FG % |
|
29.4 |
| 68.7 |
|
FT % |
|
69.7 |
| 38.1 |
|
Rebounds/game |
|
34.8 |
| 35.1 |
|
Rebounds allowed/gm. |
|
39.9 |
| 3.0 |
|
Rebound margin |
|
-5.1 |
| 11.9 |
|
Assists/game |
|
13.1 |
| 6.1 |
|
Steals/game |
|
6.1 |
| 2.7 |
|
Blocks/game |
|
3.3 |
Scouting the Wildcats
Wilmington University is 9-17 overall and 6-10 in CACC games, sitting in fourth place in the CACC South Division.
The Wildcats have four players averaging double figures led by Randy Rickards 14.3 points per game average. Rickards is shooting 53.4% from the field and is averaging a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game. He also leads the team with 31 steals and 31 blocks.
Justin Thomas is averaging 12.8 points per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. He is second on the team, averaging 5.8 rebounds per game and second on the team with 57 assists. Danny
Walsh is averaging 13.6 points per game and recently scored the 1,000
th point of his collegiate career. Walsh leads the team in free throw percentage, making 88.6% of his attempts and is also the team's leading playmaker with 76 assists.
Caleb Matthews has 56 assists and is averaging 10.3 points per game while Nalik Veasley, who recently returned to action is averaging 6.7 rebounds per game in 13 games played.
Last Time Out for Wilmington
NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University men's basketball played in front of a packed WU Athletics Complex Tuesday and celebrated a Senior Night victory over the Georgian Court University Lions, 78-63, in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division matchup.
Danny Walsh finished with a game-high of 24 points to go along with a rebound, two assists, and two steals. Randy Rickards was right behind him with 23 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. Justin Thomas finished with 11 points, six boards, three assists, one steal, and one block. Nalik Veasley finished with 10 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two blocks.
The 'Cats tasted revenge after being left with a bad taste in their mouth in their first meeting against Georgian Court (4-20, 3-13 CACC) on January 24. The Wildcats (9-17, 6-10 CACC) lost the contest on a buzzer-beating three-pointer back in January. The win for the Wildcats helps them maintain their vital fourth place spot in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division.
The Wildcats opened the contest in a rather unusual way with a technical free-throw awarded to the 'Cats. Walsh made sure to capitalize on it, knocking down the free-throw. The Lions opened up the contest on a 7-3 run, as it took the 'Cats just around five minutes to settle into the contest. Rickards was able to tie up the game early with a made layup at 14:59. He then converted on the Wildcat's next successful possession with a jump shot that was found by freshman guard Ethan Tarte at 13:32. After the notch up at 10 apiece, the Wildcats outscored the Lions, 27-10, which proved to be the difference-maker in the first half.
Veasley continued his strong presence in his newly adopted role of being the 'Cats pivotal sixth man. He got right into the action with a defensive rebound that turned into two points for him at 11:25, stretching the lead to 19-10. Walsh carried that momentum with a made three-pointer off a nice across-the-court find from Veasley, making it 22-11 half way through the first half. Sophomore Taalib Holloman joined in on the strong bench play as well with a three of his own in the left corner off of a find from sophomore Caleb Matthews at 6:16. Nearing the end of the half Rickards got the crowd off of their feet with a two-hand slam that rocked the 'Plex off of a find by j Thomas. The 'Cats went into the half with a 41-28 lead.
Coming into the second half the Wildcats were able to hold off any potential comeback by the Lions, with consistent offensive possessions. Thomas opened up the scoring for the Wildcats with a made free throw. Then Thomas with again involved the next series finding Rickards who connected on a two-pointer at 19:02 to make the score 44-30. Walsh caught fire in the second half scoring 15 of his 24 points in the last 13 minutes of the game. Rickards joined Walsh as the only other Wildcat to score in double digits in the second half with 10. Thomas was able to connect on a three-pointer at 4:50, which made the lead 66-54. The contest ended with Senior Jordan Perkins grabbing a board and a final send-off for Walsh at the Complex as he was subbed off to a standing ovation with 26 seconds left in the contest.
