Box Score LAHAINA, Maui, Hawai'i – On Monday, Chaminade guard
Christophe Varidel was blistering hot for a half. On Tuesday, it was No. 11 Gonzaga which was hot for an entire 40 minutes.
The Bulldogs shot nearly 70 percent from the floor, scoring 60 paint points as Gonzaga ran away from the Silverswords, 113-81, in a consolation game Tuesday at the EA Sports Maui Invitational in the Lahaina Civic Center.
The Silverswords saw their record fall to .500 at 2-2. The Bulldogs improved to 5-1. The Swords will face Minnesota in the seventh-place game at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The game will be televised on ESPNU, while radio and streaming audio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio Hawai'i (Big Island) and ESPN 550 (Maui).
Lee Bailey scored a game-high 29 points, one shy of his career-high, to lead the Swords on the scoreboard. Bailey was 10-of-21 from the floor, including three 3-pointers while also pulling down five rebounds.
"I came in and hit some early shots, so that always helps, mentally just getting your first one, seeing the ball go through," Bailey said. "I saw some opportunities, sometimes saw some mismatches off the switches on screens, so I was just trying to take advantage of that when it presented itself."
CUH's
Tyree Harrison matched his career-best with 10 points while Varidel,
AJ Mathew and
Kuany Kuany had eight each.
Sam Dower Jr. and Gerard Coleman each had 19 points to lead a continent of six Bulldogs in double-digit scoring. Gonzaga's 7-1 center Przemek Karnowski had 10 points and 13 rebounds while going a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. No Zags player shot under 50 percent for the game.
"There's a reason why they're ranked No. 11 in the country," Chaminade head coach
Eric Bovaird said. "They've got some skilled shooters, that's for sure. It's tough to play against a team like that because they can isolate you on the block with their big guys and then they have four shooters standing out there."
Vardiel couldn't match his hot start the previous night against Baylor, with only six points, but Bailey nearly did. The Pacific West Conference pre-season honoree started quickly for the Swords, scoring nine of CUH's first 16 points of the half, but Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos answered with 11, including three 3-pointers. Varidel also picked up three fouls in the first half.
"Gonzaga played great defense," Bovaird said. "They came out and denied him the ball and anytime we set a ball screen for him, they were really trying to get the ball out of his hands as much as possible. We're going to see that though the year with (Varidel and Bailey). People are going to give these two guys, Lee and Christophe, special attention and we've got to be able to capitalize I other areas."
Gonzaga went on a key 16-2 midway through the first half to establish a 39-23 lead. At one point in the half, the Bulldogs were an astonishing 16-of-21 (76 percent) from the floor. The Swords chipped away at the deficit, closing to within 10 at 40-30 with five minutes left, but could come no closer, holding a 58-40 advantage at halftime.
The Zags continued their torrid shooting from the floor, hitting 4-of-6 field goals to begin the second half. The Swords would close to with 12 nearly two minutes in the half as Bailey knocked down a pair of 3s while
Kevin Hu had another. It would be as close as the Swords could get as the Zags built a 30-point lead to win comfortably.
