HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball team returned to McCabe Gym for the first time in 11 days, defeating Montana State-Billings in a non-conference tilt, 82-65, Monday.
Kevin Hu tied a career-high with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor to lead a contingent of four Silverswords in double-digit scoring.
Lee Bailey followed with 19 points, marking his seventh straight contest in double figures.
Kiran Shastri added 14 points and
James Harper had 11.
Kuany Kuany had a game-high nine rebounds for the Silverswords, who evened their record to 4-4 on the season.
The Yellowjackets (1-9), out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, were led by Momir Gataric's 14 points.
Chaminade started out of the gates quickly, jumping out to a 10-2 lead to open the contest behind Hu's six points. After a free throw by MSUB's Austin Hudson made it 12-6, the 'Swords defense held the 'Jackets scoreless for the next six minutes, going on a 16-0 run as five Chaminade players got into the scoring column, bookended by Harper's jumper and a layup by
AJ Mathew which made it 28-6 midway through the first half.
MSUB countered with a 7-0 run of its own, prompting the Silverswords to call a timeout with 8:49 left in the half. The Yellowjackets continued to chip away at the deficit, cutting it to 45-34 at halftime.
But it was as close as MSUB got. Hu hit a pair of buckets and Shastri's 3-pointer opened the second half, giving Chaminade a 52-36 lead less than three minutes in. The scrappy Yellowjackets would battle back to within 14 points four times over the next nine minutes, but Shastri's tip-in and 3-ball from long range upped the Silverswords' lead to 71-52 with 7:21 left, squelching any notions of an MSUB comeback.
Chaminade shot 47.7 percent from the floor (31-of-65) while holding Montana State-Billings to 44.4 percent (24-of-54). The Silverswords also out-rebounded them, 38-28, and had 16 assists while forcing 19 MSUB giveaways. The 'Swords also hit 13-of-15 from the free throw line while the 'Jackets were 14-of-20. They also outscored MSUB, 21-7, in second chance points.
The Silverswords resume Pacific West Conference action Wednesday when they host intercity rival, Hawai'i Pacific, at McCabe Gym. Live streaming audio of the game will be on GoSwords.com.
