Box Score HONOLULU, HI– It's certainly official. The Swords are on a winning streak, winners of eight in a row and twelve of thirteen. Chaminade earned another conference victory this evening, defeating Cal Baptist in McCabe Gym. Chaminade the First Annual PacWest Conference Tournament hosted at Azusa Pacific in Azusa, CA.
Chaminade got off to a great start, leading 14-5 with just over five minutes gone by in the first half of action. Senior guard De'Andre Haskins (Long Beach, CA/Jordan) helped the cause with 6 early points for CUH.
CUH held a 29-21 lead with six minutes left in the half, but less than a minute later, after a quick 7-0 run by Cal Baptist, Coach
Eric Bovaird had to call a thirty second timeout, leading by only one point, 29-28. The Swords responded to the Lancers challenge and led 43-30 at the half. Haskins led Chaminade with 14 first half points, while Kevin Crabb led CBU with 7 points. CUH shot 47% from the floor and held California Baptist to 33% shooting. Senior
Dominique Cooks (Wollongong, Australia/Holy Spirit) added 10 first half points on 4-5 shooting.
Cal Baptist cut the lead to 45-38 early in the second half, but back to back three's by senior guards
Bennie Murray (Fairfield, CA/ Will C. Wood) and
Waly Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/Patterson Prep) extended the lead to 51-38. The Lancers cut the lead to 59-53 with just over eight minutes left following a layup by CBU's Kevin Crabb. The contest was still close, with CUH holding a five point advantage, 69-64 with 4:03 left in the game. Two huge drives and finishes by seniors
Bennie Murray and
Dominique Cooks extended the lead to eight points with 1:07 left in the contest. The Swords held on and won the contest 79-71.
Haskins led all scorers with 22 points, while Cooks added 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in the win.
Bennie Murray added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, while
Waly Coulibaly added 9 points and 8 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Sophomore
Lee Bailey (Detroit, MI/Detroit Country Day) finished with 10 points in the win.
The rebounding battle ended as a draw 34-34, but Chaminade got to the line for 31 attempts, connecting on 22.
Cal Baptist was led by Ivan Patterson with 16 points, 8 rebounds.
The Swords move to 15-8 on the year and 12-3 in the PacWest with the win. The Lancers fall to 13-10 and 7-8 in the PacWest on the year with the loss. Chaminade is back at home against Azusa Pacific in PacWest Conference action on February 21
st. Tip is set for 7:30 PM HT in McCabe Gym.
