PHILADELPHIA – The HFU men's basketball team was tied with Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) South Division leader Chestnut Hill entering the final four and a half minutes, but the Griffins would pull away for a 65-72 win over the Tigers on Wednesday night inside of the Campus Center.
Vernon Johnson's (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) driving layup tied the score at 57 with 4:35 left, capping a 10-4 surge that that featured four
Najee Coursey (Egg Harbor City, N.J./Cedar Creek) points.
Chestnut Hill came right back down the court and hit a 3-pointer just seven seconds later though, beginning what turned into a 2-11 run to take control.
Individual Highlights
- Coursey led all players with a season-best 19 points on 5-of-9 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws and added a team-high eight rebounds
- Ryan Holmes (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter School) was also in double-figures with 13 points, to go along with a game-high three steals
- Josiah King (Irvington, N.J./Linden) finished with 10 points and game-highs of five assists, three steals and two blocks, the latter three of which were season-bests
- CJ Mundell (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) matched team-highs with eight boards and two blocks
Inside the Box Score
- Holy Family won the turnover battle, 11-18, but CHC made three more field goals, 20-23, on eight less attempts, 64-56
How it Happened
- Chestnut Hill led by as many as eight, 13-21, in the first, but Coursey scored the last six points in a 2-8 flurry that put HFU on top 30-32, only for the Griffins to beat the buzzer for a tie game at the break
- Coursey then made a 3-pointer for a 39-35 edge, the Tigers' largest advantage, just 2:49 out of the locker room
- After a 3-10 CHC spurt, a Johnson 3-pointer knotted things up at 45 midway through the second
- With the Griffins up 47-53 entering the final minutes, six straight HFU points tied the score at 53 on an Omarion Jett (Montclair, N.J./Saint Benedict's Prep) floater with 6:35 left, before two Coursey foul shots made it 55-55 with 5:11 to play
Up Next
The Tigers travel to Bridgeport for a 3 p.m. tip on Saturday.