Box Score HONOLULU, HI – The Swords defeated HPU 68-65 this evening in the PacWest conference home opener for Chaminade.
A hotly contested first half between the SeaWarriors and CUH finished with three Nick Frazier made free throws for Hawaii Pacific and a 42-33 HPU halftime lead. Senior forward
Matt Cousins (Santa Rosa, CA/Cardinal Newman) had double figures in the first half with 10 points and 4 rebounds in the opening twenty minutes. Junior
Waly Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/Patterson) led all scorers with 11 points in the half. CUH shot 37% in the opening half, while the SeaWarriors shot 46%. Each team connected on five three-pointers in the opening twenty minutes.
The second half saw more back and forth action as the SeaWarriors took a ten-point lead 47-37 at the 14:13 mark in the second half. Chaminade came charging back as a
Matt Cousins layup made the score 49-45 with 12:15 remaining. A
Dominique Cooks (Wollongong, AUS/Holy Spirit) layup off a pass from junior
Bennie Murray (Fairfield, CA/Will C. Wood) gave the Swords a 52-51 lead in a classic PacWest battle. The game continued to be close the remainder of the way.
A Murray three-point play made it 58-55 Swords with just under seven minutes left as Chaminade looked to exert control of the game. HPU was not willing to go down easily. A jumper from HPU's Sean Jones and two LaBrent Chappell free throws cut the lead back to three points with 3:29 left. The Chaminade lead stayed at three points, and then a SeaWarrior layup by Fran Urli cut CUH's lead to 66-65 with 19.3 seconds in regulation. Following an HPU foul, Chaminade's
Lee Bailey (Detroit, MI/Detroit Country Day) calmly knocked down two free throws with 15 seconds left for a 68-65 Silverswords advantage. A desperation HPU three fell short and the Swords held on for the 68-65 conference victory.
Senior forward
Matt Cousins (Santa Rosa, CA/Cardinal Newman) was again a force in the paint for CUH with a double-double: 16 points and 8 rebounds. Junior
Bennie Murray (Fairfield, CA/ Will C. Wood) added 7 points, all in the second half.
Lee Bailey provided steady leadership at the point with 13 points and 3 assists while junior
Dominique Cooks (Wollongong, AUS/Holy Spirit) had a strong second half, finishing with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 34 minutes. CUH guard
Waly Coulibaly, (Bamako, Mali/Patterson) had a standout game on the perimeter with 16 points and 5 rebounds, knocking down four three's in the win.
The Swords won the rebounding battle 34-31. Chaminade shot 39% and the SeaWarriors shot 38% on the contest. CUH knocked down seven threes on the game.
Hawaii Pacific was led by LaBrent Chappell with 18 points.
Chaminade's next opponent is Academy of Art on January 11th in McCabe Gym. Tip is set for 7:30 PM HT.
With the win, the Swords move to 4-5, 2-0 in PWC while Hawaii Pacific drops to 6-5, 1-2 PWC.
