HONOLULU, HI- The Swords won a heated game with Hawaii Pacific tonight in McCabe Gym 70-62 in front of an energetic crowd.
Chaminade saw great energy from their players as five players grabbed at least five rebounds on the night. Junior center
Mamadou Diarra (Bamako, Mali/Stoneridge) led the way inside with 19 points and 9 rebounds, including some powerful dunks. CUH led 36-29 at intermission.
Chaminade claimed a double-digit lead just moments into the second half and held the double-digit lead the majority of the final twenty minutes in their battle with the Sea Warriors. Hawaii Pacific hung around and cut the lead to two possessions with under two minutes to play. Swords junior De'Andre Haskins (Long Beach, CA/Jordan) made some key free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory. Haskins finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds in the win.
Junior
Chris Curtis (Tustin, CA/Tustin) added 7 points, while junior
Matt Cousins (Santa Rosa, CA/Cardinal Newman) added 5 points and 5 rebounds. CUH guard
Dominique Cooks (Wollongong, AUS/ Holy Spirit College) tallied 5 points and 5 rebounds and 1 assist in twenty one minutes of action.
All Pac-West performer
Steven Bennett (Los Angeles, CA/Dorsey) had an off night shooting the basketball, going just 4-18, but made a key layup late to help preserve the win. Bennett finished with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Coach Mahar was pleased with the win.” We knew HPU would be aggressive. It was an intense game. We got a big boost from our guys coming off the bench. We also got great fan support. It was a fantastic atmosphere tonight and nice to see everyone contribute with big plays.”
The Swords won the rebounding battle 40-31. Senior
Shane Hanson (Canyon Lake, CA/Temescal Canyon) saw twenty-seven minutes of action, corralling 5 rebounds to go along with 9 points (2-4 from three)
Hawaii Pacific was led by LaBrent Chappell with 16 points, while Jason Jackson added 9.
Chaminade moves to 18-7with the win, 11-2 in the Pac West. Hawaii Pacific goes to 10-16, (5-9 in the Pac West) with the defeat. The Swords are back in action against Grand Canyon at home on February 28th at 7:30 PM HT. The Antelopes are 14-8 and 9-3 in the Pac West.
