Box Score AZUSA, CA- Chaminade got 27 points from
Bennie Murray, but it wasn't enough as the third-seeded Silverswords fell to No. 1 seed Dixie State, 92-80, in the championship game of the inaugural Pac West Men's Basketball Tournament at the Felix Event Center in Azusa, Calif. tonight.
The Swords will now have to wait until tomorrow's NCAA selection show on NCAA.com to learn if they will receive one of the five at-large berths for the NCAA West Regional, which will be played next Friday at a site to be determined. Dixie State earned the conference's automatic qualifier to next week's regional.
“It was a tough, hard fought game for the championship,” Swords coach
Eric Bovaird said. “I'm proud of the effort. Hopefully, we advance to the regionals and play our best basketball there.”
DSC opened the game on a 9-3 run two-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The Swords chipped away and took the lead on a
DeAndre Haskins (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan) dunk at 16-15. After a Red Storm free throw put them in front, 26-25, the Swords went on a 9-1 run, keyed by a pair of
Bennie Murray (Fairfield, Calif./Will C. Wood) 3-pointers, followed by a 3-ball by
Lee Bailey (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) to give Chaminade a 34-27 lead. The Swords would take a 38-35 going into the halftime locker room.
Both teams traded several scores to open the second half. Murray's 3-point play with 11:14 remaining gave CUH a 63-57 advantage. However, a 12-1 run put Dixie State back in front, 69-63, with 7:49 left in the game. The Swords got to within two on a pair of
Waly Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/Patterson Preg) free throws at 73-71, but could draw no closer as the Red Storm pulled away down the stretch.
Murray was 8-of-19 from the floor, including 3-of-11 from beyond 3-point range. Haskins, the Pac West Player of the Year, added 14 points and seven rebounds. Bailey and Coulibaly also cracked the double-digit scoring mark with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Swords were held to only a 36.6 percent shooting clip from the field, compared to 54.5 for the Red Storm. Chaminade was also only 8-of-34 from beyond the arc, while Dixie State attempted only eight, making three. DSC also held the rebounding advantage, 44-35.
Steven Larson, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, led the Red Storm with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. Larson also pulled down seven rebounds while McKay Massey added 21 points and six rebounds.
Haskins and Murray represented the Swords on the all-tournament team.
The loss dropped the Swords to 19-10 on the season, while Dixie State improved to 22-6.
