Philadelphia, Pa.- The Georgian Court University men's basketball squad still seeks its first victory in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) competition this season as the Lions suffered an 80-72 defeat to divisional rival Chestnut Hill College Wednesday evening on the road in Sorgenti Arena.
GCU drops its second straight outing, falling to 1-5 (0-3 CACC) in the process. The Griffins, playing their first conference foe of the season, improve to 3-4 with a perfect 1-0 CACC record.
Chestnut Hill owned a comfortable 18-8 advantage at the 10:54 mark of the first half until Georgian Court surged with a 15-0 run, capped by a
Michael Pierre lay-up with 6:55 remaining before intermission. The home team immediately countered with a 19-0 sprint of its own as CHC compiled a 37-23 surplus with 2:46 left.
A tip-in by
Edward McWade (So.-Wildwood, N.J.) put the Griffins up by a stanza-high 15 points (42-27) with 1:28 on the clock before cruising into the half up 45-34.
CHC never relinquished the lead in the second session. The Lions would creep to within four points after a
Nikola Vujovic three-ball at 17:47 (47-43), but that would be as close as the road team would get on this night.
McWade topped all scorers with 21 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field.
Dakpe Yiljep (Fr.-Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria) contributed 17 points while teammate
Luke Dickson (Sr.-Pitman, N.J.) added 15 points and a game-high six assists.
Keith Hughes compiled his third double-double of the campaign for the Lions, collecting 17 points and game-high 13 boards.
Juwuan Carter paced GCU with his 18 points while Vujovic dropped in 11 of his own.
The Lions return home this Saturday when they host Wilmington University at 3:00 p.m. for another divisional showdown.
