Box Score MONMOUTH, OR – Chaminade defeated tournament host, the Wolves of Western Oregon 84-76 in the final contest of the 3
rd Annual GNAC/PacWest Challenge held at the New PE Building on the campus of WOU.
The Swords established themselves early on, never trailing in the opening twenty minutes of action and led 40-33 at halftime. The Swords shot 46% in the half and had their largest lead of the contest in the first half, leading by 11 points after a three-pointer by senior guard
Bennie Murray (Fairfield, CA/Will C. Wood). Murray played well for CUH, scoring 19 points on 7-11 shooting.
Western Oregon battled back and led 57-54 over CUH midway through the second half. Chaminade regained the lead for good after sophomore guard
Lee Bailey (Detroit, MI/Detroit Country Day) scored four points in a row (a layup and two free throws) to earn a 73-70 Silversword lead. Senior De'Andre Haskins (Long Beach, CA/Jordan) starred for the Swords, scoring 22 points while also leading the team in rebounding for the second night in a row with 10 rebounds on the contest. Senior
Dominique Cooks (Wollongong, Australia/Holy Spirit) contributed 13 points in the win.
Chaminade shot 30% from three (6-20) and won the rebounding battle, 36-33.
Andy Avgi led Western Oregon with 21 points.
Coach Bovaird commented on the victory: “We grinded this one out. It was great to win two in-region games on the road and we are happy to be leaving Oregon 2-0. We have the defending national champions up next, so we need to start to focus on them. ”
CUH has won the GNAC/PacWest Challenge in each of its three years of existence (2010, 2011 and 2012). The challenge heads to Honolulu, HI in 2013 as Chaminade will host the tournament.
Chaminade is back in action on November 14
th in McCabe Gym. The Swords will face 2011-12 NCAA Division II National Champions Western Washington at 7:30 PM HT.
