PHILADELPHIA – Trailing by 11 with under seven and a half minutes to play, the HFU men's basketball team made a push to within one, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime would not fall in a 62-65 loss at Chestnut Hill on Wednesday night.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by
Karrington Wallace (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) and
Omarion Jett (Montclair, N.J./Saint Benedict's Prep) sparked the comeback, which saw the Tigers hold the Griffins scoreless for over four and a half minutes.
CJ Mundell (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) followed with a layup to complete eight unanswered and after a CHC jumper,
Najee Coursey (Egg Harbor City, N.J./Cedar Creek) poured in four straight points to complete a 12-2 stretch to make the score 57-58 with 2:14 to go.
Chestnut Hill took the momentum back with a 3-pointer and followed that with two free throws, but three foul shots by
Omarion Jett (Montclair, N.J./Saint Benedict's Prep) cut the deficit to 60-63 with 36 seconds left.
Three offensive rebounds helped the Griffins make two free throws in the final 14 seconds though, and despite a Coursey dunk making the score 62-64 with seven seconds showing, the 3-pointer at the buzzer would not fall following a CHC foul shot.
Individual Highlights
- Coursey tied a season-best to lead all players with 15 points on 5-of-7 field goals and 5-of-5 free throws
- Tairi Ketner (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and Jett were also in double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively
- Jason Shields (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) led HFU with eight rebounds and four assists, with Mundell adding eight boards and a team-high two steals
Inside the Box Score
- Holy Family controlled the paint, outscoring CHC 30-20, but the Griffins made four more 3-pointers, 4-8
How it Happened
- HFU did not trail in the first half, scoring the first four points before building two 10-point cushions when a Coursey three-point play made the score 15-5 5:33 in and then again when a Mundell 3-pointer made it 20-10 midway through the period
- The lead remained multiple possession the rest of the half, with CHC beating the buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 33-28 scoreline entering the locker room
- Chestnut Hill then tallied the first four points of the second half, but Tigers would remain ahead until a layup put the Griffins on top 45-47 with 11:06 remaining
- That was part of 14 unanswered that ended with CHC leading 45-56 with just 8:11 to go
Up Next
Holy Family is back on the road for a 3 p.m. tip at Bloomfield on Saturday.
