Four players scored in double figures but it was not enough for the Chestnut Hill college men's basketball team as they gave up 80 points to area rival Jefferson university, falling to the Rams 80-70 Wednesday night at Sorgenti Arena

The Griffins fall to 10-10 overall and 5-5 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games.  The Rams improve to 11-9 overall and 7-3 in league play.  Chestnut Hill remains in a tie for second place in the CACC south division standings with Georgian Court University, who also lost tonight.  The Griffins and the Lions are two games behind the first place Rams.

Amir Warrick led the Griffins with 15 points (7-14 FG) while Nigel Haughton added 13 points and a team high nine rebounds.  Conor Regan chipped in 12 points (4-7 3FG) and Noah Charles added ten to go along with his game high five assists.

The Griffins jumped out to the early lead courtesy of three point baskets from Trevonn Pitts, Haughton and Regan, holding a five point advantage 14-9 with 15:26 left in the first half.  Jefferson followed with a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to take a nine point lead at 25-16.  A basket by James Rider and a three-pointer from MJ Iraldi closed the gap to four 25-21 but another big run by the Rams pushed their lead into double digits, 36-23 with 6:46 left after executing an 11-2 spurt.

Chestnut Hill battled back over the final 6:46 of the half, outscoring the Rams 19-6 to pull within one at halftime. Haughton started the run with a three-ball and Regan later added a pair of three pointers.  Rider capped the run with a layup with 29 seconds left, making the score 42-41 at halftime.

The Griffins added a 9-5 run to start the second half, taking a 50-47 lead at the 16:08 mark.  Jefferson countered with a 19-4 uprising to regain the lead and push it into double figures, 66=54 with 7:55 left in the game.  Regan's last three-ball of the game closed the gap to nine 70-61 with 5:30 remaining and a pair of free throws by Charles with 2:43 left brought the Griffins within seven 72-65 but that would be as close as the team would get as Jefferson's Bismark Nsiah (13 points, 14 rebounds) scored the Rams final five points of the game as they finished with the ten point win.

Erik Timko scored a game high 27 points (10-19 FG, 5-10 3FG) to lead the Rams while Antonin Kemkeng added 17 points (8-13 FG), eight rebounds and three blocks.  Darius Kinnel had 11 points.

The Rams shot 53.4% from the field for the game (31-58), boosted by a 58.6% (17-29) shooting effort in the first half.  Jefferson also shot 50% from three-point range.  The Griffins made just 42.1% (24-57) of their shots for the game and were just eight-for-22 from three point range.  Jefferson narrowly outrebounded the Griffins 33-30 while both teams did a good job of protecting the basketball with the Griffins committing just ten turnovers to Jefferson's 12.

The men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, January 28, 2023 when they host CACC North division leader Caldwell university at Sorgenti Arena.  Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.