Omari Salvi scored a career-high 22 points as the Chestnut Hill college Men's Basketball team got back on the winning track with a 75-59 win over Mercy University and the Neil Judge Student-Athlete Center in Dobbs Ferry, New York Tuesday night.
The Griffins snap a two-game skid with the win and improve to 3-4 overall. The win was Chestnut Hill's fifth straight against the Mavericks dating back to 2017. The Griffins are 6-1 lifetime against Mercy.
Salvi led three Griffin players in double figures, connecting on 70% of his shots from the field (7-10) and a higher 75% from three-point range (6-8). He added a pair of free throws to reach his career high of 22 points. IV Pettit and Alejandro Redondo Cybak added 14 points apiece.
Neal Hill grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds to lead all players while Cybak pulled down seven. Noah Charles dished out five assists to go along with nine points. Hill and Kamal Lee added three assists apiece.
After jumping out to an early lead, the Griffins found themselves trailing by one 14-13 just six minutes into the game before Salvi took control of the contest with nine straight points (three three-balls) to lead 22-14. Mercy closed within two three-time before the half ended, the last with 1:46 left (31-29) before the Griffins finished the period on an 8-1 run to lead 39-30 at the break. Two Charles three-point baskets highlighted the half-ending run.
Salvi opened the scoring in the second half with another three-point bucket (his fourth at the time to give the Griffins a double-digit lead. That lead oscillated between seven and 12 points over the next four minutes when the Mavericks went on an 8-2 run to cut the gap to six 50-44 with 10:28 left in the game, forcing a Griffins timeout.
Lee hit a three-pointer coming out of the timeout and after a Maverick layup, Cybak nailed his second three-point bucket of the night to bring the lead back to double digits 56-46. Mercy again pulled within six but a 10-0 uprising from the Griffins put the game firmly into the hands with a 68-53 lead with four minutes to go. Salvi hit his final three point shot to start the run and Lee added a three-pointer to end it with Cybak scoring four points on back-to-back layups in between.
Mercy could only come as close as 12 down the stretch as the Griffins hit seven of nine free throws in the final 2:22 with Pettit making four straight in the final minute to seal the win.
Ethan and Nathan Robertson led the Mavericks with 17 and 16 points respectively. TJ Holloway added 13.
For the game, the Griffins shot an extremely efficient 59.7% (16-27) from beyond the arc, the best mark by a Central Atlantic collegiate conference team so far this season. CHC was just 7-for-25 inside the arc but finished the game with an overall shooting percentage of 44.2 (23-52). Mercy made one more field goal than Chestnut Hill (24-61) but connected on just three of 21 shots from beyond the arc.
The Griffins outrebounded the Mavericks 44-29 while the Mavericks had better ball control with just 11 turnovers to CHC's 20.
The men's team returns to action on Saturday, December 7, 2024, for their conference opener against Georgian court University on Lakewood, New Jersey. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
