Dec. 31, 2003
Honolulu, HI -
The Chaminade University men's basketball team fell to NAIA Doane College from Crete, Nebraska today at McCabe Gymnasium by the score of 79-75. Today's game was the final outing of the non-conference schedule, which began with the Swords upending Big East powerhouse Villanova in the Maui Invitational. Since that time the Silverswords have dropped 7 out of 8 games including two on their home court.
"We simply got outplayed today," Chaminade head coach Aaron Griess remarked. "Doane College doesn't have the size that we have, nor do they have the athletic ability we have....but their hearts were much bigger than ours. If we're going to compete in league play, we're going to have to find the emotion and enthusiasm we had on November 24th at the tournament (the Maui Invitational)."
Chaminade jumped out to a quick lead in the first have and extended the margin to 15. The Tigers fought back behind the outside shooting of senior guard Brian Jakubowski who tallied 18 first half points, 12 from behind the arc, to keep Doane alive. Chaminade junior center Nick Frey powered his way to 15 first half points to give the Swords a 6 point lead at the break.
The second half was a different story however, as the Tigers quickly erased the deficit and extended the lead to 6 points. Doane shot 7-10 from the 3-point line in the second half to thwart every Chaminade comeback. Kashif Reyes pumped in a 3-point shot and was fouled on the play with 2:42 left in the game. The senior guard completed the 4-point play to tie the game but Doane responded with 4 unanswered points and held off the Swords to complete the upset.
Griess had this to say after the loss: "Simply stated, Doane was better than us today. They stepped up and hit the shots when it counted and we couldn't get stops. We had our chances but we couldn't convert our free throws down the stretch and we missed several shots in the paint. We have a week to get ourselves in order and be ready to compete in the league. I'm confident we'll do just that."
The Silverswords will host the University of Hawaii Hilo (8-2) on Thursday January 8th at 7:30pm at McCabe Gymnasium.
