PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Men's Basketball (8-4, 3-1 PAC) found their groove offensively down the stretch on Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 73-56 victory over Thiel (4-8, 1-3).
 
Senior Diaun Pinkett led all scorers with 21 points, connecting on 9 of his 15 field goal attempts and finishing one rebound shy of a double-double with a game-high 9. Senior Lovenson Xavier scored 12 points and pulled down 8 boards for the Cougars. Junior Drew Vizenor netted 11 points with 8 rebounds and hit all 4 of his free throws, and Senior Jake TenBerge put up 10 points with 5 rebounds for Chatham.
 
The Tomcats played their best basketball early, going up 20-13 nine minutes into the game. The Cougars would then go on a 9-2 scoring run to tie the score. After Thiel led 25-24 with four minutes left in the first half, Chatham closed the half on a 10-4 scoring spree that included 6 Pinkett points, putting the Cougars ahead 34-29 at the intermission.
 
Chatham found renewed energy straight out of the locker room, opening the second half with a 21-2 run and 30-6 extended run over the first 12 minutes of the half. Xavier recorded 8 points in those 11 minutes, and a fadeaway tip-in from Pinkett gave the Cougars their largest lead of 29 points. Chatham led 71-45 after Donovan Callahan's three-point basket with four and a half minutes remaining, and the Cougars would win by 17 points despite scoring just two more after his triple.
 
Chatham shot 41.8 percent for the game (28-67) despite their lowest three-point shooting percentage of the season of 19.2 percent (5-26). The Tomcats' 3 three-pointers were the fewest the Cougars have given up this season, and their 35.6 percent shooting was the second-lowest Chatham has allowed so far in 2025-26.
 
Men's Basketball heads to Saint Vincent on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup against the Bearcats.