The five starters for the Chestnut Hill College men's Basketball team all scored in double figures but Molloy University pulled away late to hand the Griffins an 81-71 loss Tuesday night at MU's Quealy Gymnasium in Rockville Centre, New York.

The Griffins fall to 1-10 as they head into their Christmas break.   The Lions improve to 2-11.

Freshman Argel Pettit IV led all scorers with 22 points, connecting on six of 13 shots from the field (3-8 from 3 pt. ranges) and making all seven of his free throw attempts.  Fellow freshman Kamal Lee added 15 points (5-9 FG, 3-7 3FG).  Noah Charles and Lucas Dunn chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.  Neal Hill filled his stat sheet with ten points, a career-high nine assists and also grabbed seven rebounds.

It was a game of runs in the first half as Chestnut Hill opened the game with the first seven points, only to have Molloy counter with 13 straight points to take a 13-7 lead.  A Dunn three-ball brought thew Griffins back within three 13-10 at the 13:02 mark before Molloy followed with nine straight points, completing a 22-3 uprising, and taking a 22-10 lead.  The griffins still trailed by 12, 26-14 when they had their biggest run of the game, scoring 14 straight points to lead 28-26 at halftime.

Hill and Charles started the run with layups while Dunn connected on a pair of three pointers, the latter tying the game at 26-26.  Charles closed out the run with a layup with 38 seconds left in the half.

Lee opened the second half with a three-point basket, extending CHC's run to 17-0 and giving the Griffins a five point lead 31-26.  Molloy continued the trend with an 11-0 run to retake the lead 37-31 with 15:58 left.  Two minutes later, the Griffins completed an 11-4 spurt to retake the lead 42-41. Charles' jumper in the paint with 10:11 left extended the Griffins' lead to 51-48.  Molloy countered with eight straight points to regain the lead for good, 56-51 at the 8:20 mark. 

Chestnut Hill closed within two on two occasions as the half continued.  With 6:38 left the deficit was still two 60-58 with Molloy then starting a 13-4 spurt to take a double digit lead 73-62 with just under three minutes remaining.  CHC could only close within eight points as the game wound down with the Lions finishing with the ten point win.

Molloy finished the game shooting 46.6% (27-58) from the field while Chestnut Hill shot 36.6% (26-71).  The Griffins made three more three point baskets (10-7) but were outscored on the free throw line, 20-9.   The Griffins turned in a nice assist/turnover ratio, recording a season-high 20 assists while committing just nine turnovers. (MU 16:14).

The men's basketball team will return to New York on December 30, 2023, for a game with Adelphia University in Garden city.  Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m.