The Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball Team dropped their Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference opener Saturday afternoon, losing to Georgian Court University 81-66 in Lakewood, New Jersey.

The Griffins fall to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in CACC games.  The Lions improve to 2-7 overall and 1-1 in league play.

IV Pettit led the Griffins with nine points (7-10 FT) while Neal Hill also chipped in nine (4-8 FG).  Alejandro Redondo Cybak added eight points and also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Donald-James Imo grabbed seven rebounds while Hill pulled down six.

Georgian Court led wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 13-2 lead in the first three minutes of action.  The Lions expanded their lead to 30-10 with 7:49 left in the half before the Griffins rallied with a 12-2 run to cut the lead in half, 32-22 with 1:54 left. A three-point basket from Noah Charles highlighted the run. The Lions closed out the half with an 8-1 run to lead 40-23 at the break.

The Griffins again cut the lead to ten, 47-37, just six minutes into the second half.  The lions countered   with a 15-4 run to push the lead to 21, 62-41 with 9:05 remaining.  The Griffins would only come as close 15 the rest of the way, with the Lions expanding the lead to as many as 24 points down the stretch. Fifteen was the final margin as a pair of free throws from Amari Dow (5 points) and a basket from Kamal Lee (4 points) in the final minute closed out the scoring closed out the scoring for both teams.

For the game, the Griffins shot 37.3% (19-51) while the Lions turned in a robust 24-51 (47.1%) shooting effort.  GCU made 11 three point baskets while CHC had only six.  Chestnut Hill did have a 39-29 rebounding advantage, but Georgian Court committed four fewer turnovers (11-15).

The men's Basketball team returns to action on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 when they travel to play Division I University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.