Honolulu, HI- What a game. With the Swords down to only six dressed players based on Pac West Conference Commissioner Bob Hogue's ruling from Friday night's BYU-Hawaii-Chaminade matchup, CUH took the floor to face the #3 ranked team in the country.
The commissioner ruled that BYU Hawaii's Trenson Akana and Marques Whippy would sit this one out for the Seasiders, while Chaminade would have a total of three players miss tonight's game: Jamar Berry, Cartier Carter and Zach Johnson.
This would be a tough pill to swallow for any team in the country, but the Swords responded with an effort to make all Chaminade faithful proud.
The game was a battle royale, pitting rivals against each other in another classic matchup.
Chaminade's six came out ready to go and despite every foul putting the Swords in serious jeopardy, Chaminade went to the locker room at halftime with a 43-41 lead.
The Swords and Seasiders continued their up and down play in the second half, as BYU-Hawaii's Jet Chang led the Seasiders, shooting 13-22 from the floor. Chaminade was not to be outdone, as the Swords made big play after big play. Mohamed Tangara dominated the paint, going 8-10 from the floor, scoring 22 points along with 9 rebounds.
Noah Gottlieb added 25 points and Joel Smith added 24 points for Chaminade. Junior Rickey Clayborn put forth a fantastic effort scoring 17 points and corralling 10 boards.
When Darrell Birton fouled out with nearly 10 minutes to play, Chaminade had five players and two in serious foul trouble. From there on out, the Swords did everything they could to keep the hard-charging Seasiders at bay. It was not to be, despite big scores from CUH on the offensive end. It also marked the second night in a row the Swords finished the game with four players going against five BYU-Hawaii Seasiders.
BYU-Hawaii managed to shoot 27 foul shots to the Swords 16 on the game.
In defeat, Chaminade dominated the glass, winning the battle 39-30. Chaminade also out- shot BYU-Hawaii 56%-51% on the night.
Jet Chang led BYU-Hawaii with 32 points.
Chaminade falls to 14-11 on the year, and remains 7-4 in the Pac West conference. BYU-Hawaii moves to 23-1 overall. The Swords are back in action vs. Hawaii Hilo Monday evening, March 2nd. Game time is set for 7:30 PM HT at McCabe Gym.
