PHILADELPHIA – The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (11-9, 7-3 CACC) swept the season series against Chestnut Hill (10-10, 5-5 CACC) with an 80-70 road victory on Wednesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Griffins gained the early momentum, getting out to an 8-4 lead. The Rams followed with 10 of the next 16 to even the score at 14 with 14:33 on the clock. After a Chestnut Hill jump shot, Jefferson went on an 11-0 run for its first lead of the game, 25-16, with 10:18 remaining. Erik Timko led the way with five points with Bismark Nsiah and Ahmed Barba-Bey each hitting a three-pointer.
 
The Griffins were within eight (31-23) at the 7:56 mark. The Rams posted five points in a row to up the margin to 13 (36-23). Jefferson was in front by 12 (40-28) with 3:59 left but Chestnut Hill finished the period with a 13-2 surge to close the gap to one (42-41) at halftime. The Rams shot 58.6% (17-of-29) in the half, including 58.3% (7-of-12) from beyond the arc. Timko poured in 18 points in the frame on 7-of-10 shooting, 4-of-6 from three-point range.
 
In the second half, Jefferson held a four-point advantage (47-43) before a 7-0 stretch by the Griffins gave them a 50-47 edge. However, the Rams came back with a 19-4 run to pull ahead by 12 (66-54) with 7:55 to play. Five different players contributed to the rally. Chestnut Hill gradually cut into the deficit and narrowed it to six (75-69) with 1:38 on the clock. However, the Griffins missed their final two field goal attempts and managed just one point the rest of the way.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Erik Timko: 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting (5-10 3PT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Antonin Kemkeng: 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks
Bismark Nsiah: 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Darius Kinnel: 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 31-of-58 (53.4%)
3PT: 10-of-20 (50.0%)
FT: 8-of-10 (80.0%)
 
NOTES
- Bismark Nsiah recorded his second double-double of the season.
- Jefferson converted over 50 percent for the eighth time and made over half of its three-point attempts for the fifth time.
- The Rams defeated Chestnut Hill for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings.
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson takes on 24^th-ranked Dominican on the road on Saturday, January 28^th at 4 p.m.