The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team took a close game and built a double-digit second half lead and then held off nationally-ranked Dominican University for the 88-84 win Saturday afternoon at Sorgenti Arena.

The Griffins improve to 9-8 overall and 4-3 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games.  The Chargers, ranked #16 in both the D2SIDA and NABC National polls, saw their ten-game win snapped and drop to 15-2 on the season and 7-1 in league play.

Five players scored in double figures for the Griffins, led by Amir Warrick's 24 points (8-12 FG, 8-9 FT). Trevonn Pitts added 21 points (7-8 FG, 3-3 3FG, 4-6 FT) while Nigel Haughton chipped in 17.  The game also marked the first time this season that the Griffins have had two players score 20 or more points in a game and just the 16^th time in the last eight seasons.

Conor Regan and James Rider IV rounded out the double figure scorers for the Griffins, putting up ten points apiece.  Regan was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line and also grabbed a game high eight rebounds.  Noah Charles led all players with four assists.

It was a back and forth first half which saw a total of nine lead changes and six ties with all but one lead change coming in the first 11 minutes of action.  A three-ball from Pitts put the Griffins on top 20-19 before the two teams exchanged three-point buckets over a 55-second period with the chargers holding a slim 24-23 lead with 9:10 left.   The Chargers expanded their lead to four 27-23 with 6:56 left before the Griffins closed out the half with a 12- 5 uprising to take a 35-32 lead at halftime with Haughton's three-point bucket with 1:31 left switching the lead back to the Griffins.

Dominican remaining within striking distance early in the second half, never trailing by more than two possessions until Regan's layup five minutes in, putting the Griffins ahead 48-40.  DU cut the lead back to five before a traditional three-point play by Pitts gave the Griffins their first double-digit lead 55-45 with 12:23 left.  Another three-point play from Pitts gave the Griffins their largest lead of the afternoon 63-49 with 9:14 left.  The Chargers then cut the lead in half with a 7-0 run before two free throws from Warrick brought the CHC scoring drought.   The Griffins' lead fluctuated between five and eight points for the next four minutes until Regan again gave the home squad a double-digit lead with two free throws 73-63 with 3:47 left.

The Chargers continued to claw back into the game, cutting the Griffin lead to four 78-74 with a three-point basket with 2:35 left. Haughton put the Griffins back up by six with two free throws with 54 seconds left before DU's Wahaad Johnson (career-high 33 points) added two free throws and then got a steal which led to another Charger basket, cutting the Griffins lead to two 84-82 with 27 seconds left.  Haughton and Regan each added a pair of free throws in the final 24 seconds to secure the four-point win 88-84.

Justin Copman joined Johnson in double figures with 12 points.  Seth Sharif-Brown led the team with six rebounds.

Statistically speaking, numbers on both teams were nearly identical.  Both squads Made 27 field goals with the Chargers attempting two more than the Griffins (55-53).  The Griffins finished the game shooting 50.9% while the Chargers were at 49.1%.  CHC made two more three-point shots (7-5) with both teams taking 15 in the game and also made two more free throws (27-25).  CHC held a slight 31-28 edge rebounding and did commit three more turnovers. (17-14).  However, the Griffins took advantage of the Charger miscues, outscoring their opponent 24-18 in the points off turnover category.

The men's basketball team returns to action on Tuesday, January 17, 2022 when they travel to face Georgian Court University for a CACC South Division clash.  Tipoff is at 6:00 p.m.