Freshman Jeremiah Gorham led four players in double figures as the Chestnut Hill College Men's Basketball team held off a later surge from the University of Bridgeport to hand the Purple Knights a 72-66 defeat Saturday afternoon at Sorgenti Area,
The Griffins improve to 5-9 overall and 3-4 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games. The Purple Knights fall to 5-2 in league play and 8-6 overall.
Gorham led the team with 16 points (4-5 FG, 7-8 FT) while Alejandro Redondo Cybak recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Gorham and Cybak also led the team with three assists apiece. Kamal Lee made five baskets, including four three-pointers to finish with 14 points. Amari Dow added 13 points.
Chestnut Hill jumped out to an early 15-4 lead with Lee scoring eight of CHC's first 15 points. The Griffins still led by double-digits, 18-8, when the Purple Knights went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to just two points 18-16 with five minutes left in the first half.  Lee's third three-ball of the half put the Griffins back up by seven 25-18 with 2:14 left before UB's Isaiah Sullivan (game-high 23 points) countered with his own three-point basket to make the score 25-21 heading into the locker room at halftime.
Sullivan opened the second half with another three-ball to pull the Purple Knights within one. The Griffins followed with an 8-1 run; four points from Dow along with layups from Gorham and Landon Shivers to lead 33-25. Following another three-point basket by the Purple Knights to cut CHC's lead to three, the Griffins pushed the margin back to nine 43-34 with the 8-2 run, capped by a Shivers layup.  The game of runs continued as Bridgeport then scored seven straight points to close within two 43-41. Cybak put the Griffins back up by six 47-41 but the Purple Knights again bounced back, this time with a 13-6 spurt to take their only lead of the game 54-53 with 6:07 remaining.
Dow put the Griffins back ahead 56-54 with 3:54 left and the Griffins lead remained between one and four points until the final 1:30. Leading by one 61-60, Lee sank the last of his four three-point baskets with 90 ticks left on the clock to put the CHC up four 64-60. Cybak was pulled down on the boxout attempt in case Lee's shot was off and the Bridgeport player was whistled for the foul. Cybak sank both free throws and 13 seconds later, following a defensive stop, Gorham went to the line and made two to give the Griffins an eight point advantage, 68-60 with 1:17 left.
Two UB free throws cut the lead to six  with just under a minute left. The Griffins then turned the ball over twice, which could have been disastrous for the team, but the Purple Knights got only one basket from the turnover to cut the CHC lead to 68-64 with under 40 seconds left. Cybak got fouled again and again made two free throws to put the Griffins up six, 70-64. Gorham closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws with seven seconds left, ensuring the Griffins six-point win.
For the game, the Griffins shot 45.3% (24-53) from the field, including a 56% (14-25) effort in the second half. Bridgeport shot 36.5% from the field (23-63). The Purple Knight held a 43-29 rebounding advantage, including an 18-5 margin on the offensive glass, lead to 16 second chance points to just two for the Griffins.  Chestnut Hill also committed two fewer turnovers (10-12).
The men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 when they host Georgian Court University at Sorgenti Arena. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m.
