HONOLULU – The Chaminade University men's basketball opened Pacific West Conference action by building a large second-half lead, then hanging on in the end for a 94-89 win over a feisty Hawai'i-Hilo squad Thursday at McCabe Gym.
Junior guard
James Harper broke out of a week-long shooting slump by pouring in a season-high 23 points to help end a three-game losing streak for the Silverswords (3-3 overall, 1-0 PacWest). Harper nailed 7-of-9 shots from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. The Phoenix native totaled only eight points in last week's EA SPORTS Maui Invitational.
Kevin Hu also enjoyed his best scoring output of the season with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor.
Lee Bailey added 15 points for the 'Swords, moving him past Rodney McCray for eighth in the program's all-time scoring list with 1,243 career points.
Frankie Eteuati tied season-highs with 11 points and five rebounds while
Kiran Shastri also had 11 points.
Kuany Kuany barely missed his 10
th career double-double with nine points and nine boards.
The Vulcans (4-3 overall, 0-1 PacWest) were led by Joey Rodriguez's 21 points. Reigning PacWest Player of the Week Tre Johnson dropped 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss while all 19 of Vandyon Lockett's points came in the second half.
The Silverswords were efficient on the floor, making 57.4 percent of their shots (31-for-54) while holding the Vulcans to just below 42 percent shooting. Chaminade also out-crashed UH-Hilo on the glass, 39-34, and hit 22 free throws to the Vulcans' 18. The 'Swords also made 10 3-pointers on the evening.
Chaminade was able to grab a 16-point lead midway through the first half but a 13-0 UHH run whittled the Silverswords' lead down to 32-29 with 4:43 left before the break. Hu then scored seven of the team's next nine points to push the lead back to double-digits, but Rodriguez was fouled on a 3-point try at the first-half buzzer. Rodriguez hit all three free throws to reduce Chaminade's lead to 43-34 at the break.
The Silverswords came out of the locker room with a flurry to start the second half. Harper banged two 3-pointers, Shastri and Hu each had one and Kuany made an old-fashion 3-pointer, giving Chaminade its largest lead of the game at 62-43 with 14:39 left.
But UH-Hilo wouldn't go away quietly. Down by 15 with eight minutes remaining, the Vulcans went on a surge, going on a 15-3 run over the next three minutes to close to within 77-73. They eventually got the deficit down to a one-possession game with 15 seconds left, but Kuany and Bailey combined for three free throws as the Silverswords hung on for the win.
Chaminade will next be in action Saturday as they travel to Laie to face No. 23 BYU-Hawai'i at 7:30 p.m.
