Box Score LAHAINA, HI– The Silverswords lost 84-61 to a tough Illinois team tonight in the second semifinal matchup in the 2012 EA Sports Maui Invitational televised on ESPN2.
Chaminade fell behind 8-0 for the second day in a row, but much like yesterdays upset of Texas, the Swords responded. CUH scored five straight points, capped off by a three by sophomore guard
Lee Bailey (Detroit, MI/Detroit Country Day). The Illini looked to push the lead, but senior De'Andre Haskins (Long Beach, CA/Jordan) continued his stellar tournament, knocking down a jumper to cut the Illinois lead to five (22-17) with 8:32 left in the first half. Haskins finished the contest with 19 points to go along with 5 rebounds. CUH trailed 37-21 at the half, shooting 33% from the field in the opening twenty minutes.
Chaminade continued to compete in the second half, cutting the lead to 11 points following a free-throw by freshman
Kevin Hu (Taipei, Taiwan/Songsan) with 15:04 left in the contest. The Swords could get no closer as the Illini won the contest 84-61. Hu finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
Illinois was led by Joseph Bertrand with 14 points.
Q. Can any of you players talk about the defensive pressure that Illinois put on you and how you guys kind of reacted to that?
De'Andre Haskins answered: “They're a good defensive team. They played together, but, honestly, I felt like we could have -- personally, I need to look for my teammates more. Especially when I dribble drive, they were open. They were open a lot of times because they were keying in on me because of what happened yesterday. I've got to do a better job of driving and kicking and looking for my teammates. That's all around. But that's for me personally. But they're a good defensive team. You saw the outcome.”
Chaminade is back in action tomorrow, November 21st in the third-place game of the 2012 EA Sports Maui Invitational. The Swords will face #9 North Carolina at 2:30 PM HT at the Lahaina Civic Center. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
